Many farmers in Saskatchewan are eagerly awaiting the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.
“If we’re not at the trade table our competitors are going to take those markets from us, that’s the thing to remember,” said grain farmer Todd Lewis.
Twelve pacific rim countries including Canada, U.S.A, Mexico and lucrative Japan are included in the deal, which represents 40 percent of the world’s GDP.
It’s a market block that Lewis says he wants access to.
“I mean huge populations with a growing middle class. They want what we have and we can supply it, but we just need the opportunity to be in those markets,” added Lewis.
Professor Ken Rasmussen from the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy says a trade deal of this magnitude is good for the province.
“Saskatchewan is a trading province. Everything that we dig out of the ground, grow is shipped out of the province. So it’s really important for us to promote trade,” said Rasmussen.
But it seems not all farmers will reap the benefits.
“The losers may be the dairy farmers,” added Rasmussen.
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Dairy farmers are a minority in Saskatchewan and they’re worried a TPP deal could affect the protectionist supply management and cut into profits.
“Canada is a tough place to be a dairy farmer” said Blain McLeod, a dairy farmer located west of Moose Jaw. “Like anybody that is earning a wage or an income from their source of business, if you all of a sudden suggested you were going to lose 10% of your annual income, that is a significant concern for us dairy farmers,”
Currently, Canada’s dairy market allows 5 percent of dairy imports tariff-free, but reports say negotiating countries are pushing for that limit to rise even further, leaving dairy farmers here feeling uncertain.
“I’m passing the farm on to my two sons and I trust that they will earn an income from this farm for their life and for my grandkids that I’m also enjoying as well,” said McLeod.
Negotiations are continuing in Atlanta, but with access to 40 percent of the world’s GDP at stake, the benefit of the broader economy may leave dairy farmers with the short end of the stick.
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