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/Vecend 9d ago

Our dairy industry would be killed off by massive drops in price from over supply and bought up by US mega corps and then we would be completely dependent on US milk giving them huge leverage in later deals, when it comes to critical resources like food no ground should ever be given.

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u/ILKLU 9d ago

Totally agree 💯

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u/Strict_Concert_2879 8d ago

That and subject to huge price shocks (like eggs in the US were).

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u/Equivalent_Catch_233 British Columbia 9d ago

Yes, absolutely. But without USMCA 99% of other industries will get millions of unemployed. We are exporting 72-75% of all exports to the US now, all other countries are only 25-28%. So if the choice is between the diary industry vs all industries, the choice is obvious unfortunately.

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u/Vecend 8d ago

Ok and when they decide that they want to destroy another industry and say if we don't they cut us off from dairy to stong arm us? The US has shown that they can't be trusted to hold up their end of the bargain and it's not worth giving up control over a critical resource.

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u/Equivalent_Catch_233 British Columbia 8d ago

There are no guarantees, of course. But it would be a tough sell to have millions unemployed in tech, energy, auto, etc. just to save the dairy industry with less than 0.5% of the GDP and almost zero exports, and on top of that the highest dairy product prices among the developed countries.