New Nafta Makes Canada Farmers Losers as Milk Trade Opens Up
- Deal gives Americans more access to country’s protected market
- Canada will offer compensation to affected farmers: Trudeau
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Canadian farmer Henry Holtmann was so bullish on the dairy market that he hoped to build a new barn to offer more space for his 550 cows. Those plans are now on hold thanks to a new trade pact with the U.S. that will allow Americans to ship more milk north, cutting into the tightly-managed domestic sector that matches output with demand.
“This doesn’t fix the problems of American oversupply,” said Holtmann, a third generation dairy farmer in Rosser, Manitoba, who will spend the winter reviewing the impact of the deal and whether his expansion plans still make sense. “It’s a slap in the face to Canadian producers who work very hard at managing supply.”