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Protein demand could resolve surplus concerns in USMCA talks

A policy advisor for the American Dairy Coalition says USMCA negotiators need to ensure trade rules keep pace with changes in the North American dairy market.

Sherry Bunting tells Brownfield, “There’s a lot of integration that has happened since NAFTA and USMCA in agriculture, and dairy had some integration too.

“Two of our largest cheese and ingredient producers are actually Canadian owned,” she says.

Bunting says Canada’s supply management system has traditionally been based on butterfat quotas that, at times, led to excess protein on the market. But she says consumer demand is changing the economics.

“The positive side of that is the economics and the consumer might take care of that themselves because they’re seeing the same shift to higher protein foods in Canada that we’re seeing here,” she says.

Bunting says while market demand could help sort out some of the trade balance, the final agreement needs to ensure fair access and be enforced as implemented.