The Rural Voice, 1991-06, Page 64PERTH irtk
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Vince Hulshof, President
R. R. 1, Sebringville, NOK 1X0 393-5586
• The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA
SOME RULES ARE BETTER THAN NO RULES AT ALL
In the May issue of The Rural Voice
Jim Fitzgerald made some comments
about how pork producers might be
feeling now about the Free Trade Agree-
ment with respect to pork. As far as pork
trade goes, I wonder more about where
our industry would be if there was no
agreement. When dealing with the
Americans, some rules — even if they
are not fully abided by — are better than
no rules at all.
Jim Romahn, in his May 7/91 col-
umn in the Kitchener -Waterloo Record,
had some interesting thoughts on the
present situation with wheat and pork
relative to the Free Trade Agreement:
U.S. BULLIES WIN
BATTLE OVER EXPORTS
TO CANADA
by Jim Romahn
Kitchener -Waterloo Record
As expected, the border has opened
to imports of wheat and wheat products
from the U.S.
That ends decades of Canadian
Wheat Board control over import per-
mits.
And the end came because Canadian
subsidies topped U.S. levels over a two-
year average.
Canadians who negotiated the Can-
ada -U.S. free trade agreement thought
that was unlikely to happen for years and
years. But farming is an uncertain busi=
ncss, and in this cast, a combination of
drought and the tremendous continuing
success of a well-oiled Prairie farm
lobby in springing subsidies out of an
already -leaky federal treasury did the
damage.
In the final analysis, it wasn't even
close.
In Canada, subsidies for the two-
year period averaged 31.12 per ccnt of
farmers' total wheat revenues, in the
U.S. it was 26.8 per cent.
The border remains closed for barley
and barley products because the Cana-
dian subsidies averaged Icss than 19 per
60 THE RURAL VOICE
cent over the two-year period compared
with more than 26.47 percent in the U.S.
I don't blame the farmers who have
struck up a lobby to hold the border
closed to put pressure on the U.S. to
clean up their trade act.
The Canadian farm leaders point to
the unfair and unreasonable resistance
the U.S. has put up against Canadian
pork exports.
And they point to U.S. export subsi-
dies that have done tremendous damage
to Canada's wheat exports.
But the fact is that we signed a deal
that obliges us to allow U.S. wheat into
our market.
When Canada was negotiating this
free trade deal, there were tremendous
protectionist pressures building in the
U.S. There is no question that those
pressures would have resulted in just as
much damage — and probably far more
— to the Canadian economy had we not
managed to negotiate and sign the free
trade agreement.
Yes, the Americans do play tough
and nasty.
Yes, I think they have been unfair
about trade.
But I also think matters would have
been even worse — much worse — had
we failed to get this deal.
What we have gained is a piece of
paper that we can wave under the noses
of the Americans, and in front of the
whole world.
By living up to both the letter and the
spirit of that agreement, Canadians
demonstrate to the whole world that we
are committed to fair and honest trading.
By their failure to live up to the letter
and the spirit of that same agreement,
the Americans signal to the whole world
that they can't be trusted.
And that, during the ongoing nego-
tiations among 108 nations for a new
General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade, is an extremely important differ-
ence
The U.S. is likely to leam that the
bullying it does in the context of the
Canada -U.S. free trade agreement will
not work in the context of the combined
clout of the 107 other nations involved
in the GATT.
And so I expect the 107 will be wary,
and will bargain hard for clear-cut rules
and regulations. And that they will
stand together to hold U.S. feet to the
fire whenever difficulties like those
Canada has faced over pork arise under
a new GATT.
One additional point: while we know
the U.S. has been tough, the European
Community has been downright nasty
over a much broader spectrurn of trade
issues involving agriculture. So, when
Canadian farmers rightfully complain
about the U.S. export subsidies on
wheat, they need to shout even louder
about the far greater damage the Euro-
pean Community is inflicting on world
wheat markets with its combination of
much greater domestic and export sub-
sidies.0
- submitted by Gordon Jack
COMING EVENTS FOR PERTH COUNTY PORK PRODUCERS
PORK & DAIRY FESTIVAL
June 7th - Stratford Coliseum
Barbecue 5:30 p.m. Dance 9:00 p.m.
Tickets $12.50/person in advance, $14.00 at door
available from directors
BUS TOUR OF IOWA PORK PRODUCERS VISITING COUNTY
June 26th - 28th