
Trade A Concern For Canadian Cattle Producers
The Canadian Cattle Association says that while the U.S. presidential election is less than three months away, the organization will continue to reinforce with American legislatures, at both the state and federal level, the reality of how important cross-border trade is to the economy of both the U.S. and to Canada. USMCA is also coming up for its initial review in July of 2026.
The CCA's President Nathan Phinney, a cattleman based in New Brunswick, says that his organization is working to stay well ahead of that Agreement Review. Phinney adds exporters of all products, including his organization, have faced strong headwinds from Republican and Democrat trade policies in recent times. Former president Donald Trump, running under the Republican banner, has been promoting an across-the-board 10% import tariff. And the current Democrat Administration is pushing a Made in America agenda. But Phinney says his organization, in tandem with Canadian trade officials, will continue to be relentless in their ongoing mission to keep products moving smoothly across the border.
“We had the Democrats, some of their trade policy of putting in a Voluntary Product of U.S. And we’ve heard Trump’s platform of tariffs rates – catastrophic, to be quite frank. So, we’re going to focus on that to ensure that the points are well positioned why we have the world’s largest integrated live-cattle system. We’re tasked to feed the world and be an economic driver, which we are. We need to ensure that we don’t have barriers in place.”
While the American presidential election is taking center stage right now, Canadian export-oriented organizations believe that the needs of individual states and their legislative representatives will provide the underlying strength and impetus for the ongoing international trade movement. Phinney added the Canadian Cattle Association sees their primary thrust over the next two years as to have ongoing discussions with legislators at both the state and federal levels in preparation for the USMCA review in the summer of 2026.
“It’s very valuable to get ahead of this. When we get into these negotiations, the goal is to ensure that beef remains able to move back and forth without any political interference. I think we need to continue to work on our relationship-building with all different groups and parties, whether it be governing states, senators, or members of Congress, and make sure that these relationships are fundamentally sound," Phinney continued. "70% of our trade is with the U.S.”
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