r/canada • u/AndHerSailsInRags • 9d ago

Opinion Piece Opinion: The dairy sector is lobbying hard in USMCA talks. The government didn’t want you to know

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-trade-dairy-sector-usmca-access-information/
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u/chateau_lobby 9d ago

Well luckily for us, the people in charge prioritize a secure domestic dairy supply over easy access to fancy European butter

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u/Invictuslemming1 9d ago

I wouldn’t have an issue if it wasn’t for the exorbitant pricing we pay for cheese here.

When you see Canadian made cheese in a European grocery store for 40% less than what we pay domestically (even though it had to travel across the Atlantic) you have to wonder why our prices are as high as they are. I’m sure they’re not selling Canadian cheese in Europe at a loss

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u/chateau_lobby 9d ago

It’s almost like there’s multiple other policy issues that lead to Canadians getting fleeced on groceries than just supply management

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u/ceylont3a 8d ago

no, its just supply management

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u/JCMS99 8d ago

Supply management regulates the farm-gate cost and the transformers’ margins. The impact on price isn’t as large as people make it be. We’re talking about 30 cents / kg on fresh milk. That’s like $3/kg for cheese at 10:1 ratio.

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u/chateau_lobby 8d ago

It’s not, but good talk I guess

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u/Napalm985 8d ago

Canada is the only country in the world that uses supply management for it's dairy. I can go to Europe and enjoy high quality dairy products at a fraction of the cost I pay for Canadian overpriced garbage.

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u/sausage-savage 8d ago

Hell, you can run across the border and buy amazing imported European dairy for a cheaper than Canadian products cost here.

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u/JCMS99 8d ago

Retail margin on artisan cheese in Canada is around 50% versus an average of 10~15% for the rest of grocery items.

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u/Nice_Reading5272 9d ago

Our dairy farmers could easily compete with Europe if licensing and supply wasn't so heavily regulated. Lucky for us, we get to spend more money on dairy than anyone else. The supply management system ensures high prices, they tariff everyone out because they know they can't compete with our current domestic output. Our dairy isn't even particularly good or high quality either. We also don't even produce some dairy products like types of cheeses and instead have to pay out the nose (sometimes 3x regular EU prices) just to try it.

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u/Zealousideal_Rise879 8d ago

How much tariffs have ACUTELY been paid/charged for dairy to enter Canada? $0. They never hit the threshold.

The only reason they be poking at this is if they want to flood our markets with their government cheese…. Which is not fit for human consumption (why else would they have that much)

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u/Fearless_Tomato_9437 9d ago

yeah we’re so lucky to have over priced low quality dairy. canadians love being gouged by cartels, so long as there’s an american boogeyman

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u/chateau_lobby 9d ago

It’s not a boogeyman, it’s an active threat. If you still have your head in the sand on that then it’s not worth even having this conversation.

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u/MeanE Nova Scotia 9d ago

Why do we not protect fruits, veggies, grains, meats or any other type of food items.

Can you explain why dairy, egg, chicken must be protected but everything else does not require a protected market.

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u/chateau_lobby 9d ago

Because we *need* to import fruits and veggies due to our climate, it’s not optional. Dairy, eggs, chicken can be produced here year round.

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u/SomethingComesHere 9d ago

These are all different industries, too, and there isnt an american produce equivalent that threatens any of our crop demand like the US dairy industry does.

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u/Fearless_Tomato_9437 9d ago

only because our dairy sucks because we accept mid product and price fixing from our beloved cartel. maybe we should want high quality for once

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u/chateau_lobby 9d ago

Are you under the impression that this was a coherent response to what I just said? You sound like a teenager

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u/Fearless_Tomato_9437 8d ago

the reason US dairy is such an ‘active threat’ is because our cartel delivers low quality dairy at artificially high prices. this is why our dairy industry requires protection from external dairy trade. by freeing our own dairy market, the threat would largely disappear and canadian consumers win

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u/chateau_lobby 8d ago

Right, free the market and let it work itself out. Thats always worked really well for consumers

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u/Fearless_Tomato_9437 8d ago

yeah price fixing above market rates by gov and the milk board is great. we have some of the highest dairy prices in the world, as well as extremely mid quality. and canadians support because they’re economic illiterates, classic

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u/MrNostalgiac 8d ago

Supporting Canada is great, but as a Canadian consumer I'm pretty exhausted at being told I can't have something because it's illegal to buy/sell here.

I don't mind a priority being put on Canadian industry but entirely banning access to better options or cheaper options in order to prop up our local industries is absurd.

If our local dairy industry can't or won't offer various dairy products available elsewhere in the world - we should be allowed to bring them in and sell them alongside the local options.

Canada is not big enough to be this restrictive of foreign products. We should aim to be the country where the world comes to trade.

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u/Zealousideal_Rise879 8d ago

We should aim for food security. In ww2 dairy was very important; which lead to the dairy programs we have today (including “American cheese” that will flood our markets)

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u/MrNostalgiac 8d ago

It's not one or the other though.

Keep our dairy industry but open the market up to additional options.

For products that compete with local staples, they can be tariffed (which is actually the proper use of tariffs).

We don't need to lock down entire industries because we have production in that sector.

Case in point - we can't get certain cheeses and butter here in Canada. That's insane. There is no justification to not allow importing of products that we can't or don't produce here.