Since the U.S. country-of-origin labeling law went into effect a month ago, more meat plants in the U.S. are just saying "no" to Canadian hogs and cattle for processing. The Canadian pork council said that some U.S. hog processing companies have said they will not purchase hogs born outside of the States. Other U.S. processors have said they will only buy Canadian pigs on certain days at selected plants.
With new country-of-origin labelling laws shutting Canadian hogs and cattle out of American markets, a growing number of Canadian producers are seeking trade actions.
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association and the Canadian Pork Council are asking their government to challenge the U.S. law under rules of the North American free-trade agreement. They warn that the COOL law will drive some Canadian producers out of business, reduce livestock herds and cost the two industries $800 million per year.
"They need to initiate a trade challenge against the U.S.," said John Masswohl of the CCA. He added that producers are concerned the law could be made even more troublesome to Canadian livestock producers if U.S. voters send more trade-protectionist politicians to Washington in Tuesday's elections.
Under COOL, Canadian animals are required to have documentation about their origin, and in the case of cattle, the animals must have identification tags that indicate they are mad cow disease-free. In addition, Canadian livestock must be segregated in U.S. feedlots and packing plants which increases the investment and digs into already narrow profit margins.
The Canadian pork industry may lose about $350-million a year if the law remains in effect without revisions. The presidents of both the CCA and the CPC have urged the Canadian government to take action. Together the two groups represent about 100,000 producers.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Ottawa wants to influence U.S. COOL laws by working with the American lawmakers and industry. "I would caution that if the federal government is taking the view that it must have concrete evidence of the adverse impact of COOL before approaching the U.S., very valuable time will be lost and any solution could come too late for the Canadian swine industry."
The cattlemen's association says some corporations, including Tyson, are already refusing Canadian cattle and that others such as Cargill may only slaughter Canadian cattle on certain days.
CCA president Brad Wildeman, who runs a feedlot near Lanigan Sask., was even more emphatic in his letter to the prime minister. "Our preliminary estimate is that COOL is reducing the value of Canadian cattle at a rate approaching $500-million per year. We fear that the next U.S. administration may further tighten the procedures," he wrote. "The worst has likely not yet been seen and we anticipate the costs could grow further. Therefore, we urge you to initiate a trade challenge immediately to seek repeal of this egregious U.S. law."
Ritz suggested if that isn't successful, Ottawa would consider launching a trade challenge.
"We have made it clear to the United States that we will consider all our options, including actions under both the North American Free Trade Agreement and World Trade Organization provisions, but right now we have a window of opportunity to influence the COOL regulations before they become final and we are focused on that," Ritz said.
The U.S. COOL law that took effect on October 1st is called an interim final rule. The final rule is expected to be passed next year.
Canada Cattle Update: Beef Imports;
Total beef and cattle imports from January to August have not changed all that much from a year ago with value up 7.3% at $620k versus $577k. However, there have been some differences in the breakdown of imports by country. Beef imports from the U.S. are 25% higher at 192 million lbs for the January to August 2008 time period compared to 154 million lbs for the same period in 2007.
Looking at other countries; imports from Australia are 13% lower than 2007 at 12 million lbs, New Zealand is 16% lower at 38 million lbs, the EU is down 88% at 0.005 million lbs, Brazil is down 40% at 4.9 million lbs. Argentina is up 17% from 2007 volumes at 1.6 million lbs, Uruguay is down 74% of 2007 at 9.8 million lbs and other sources are down 7% from 2007 levels at 0.06 million lbs. It is worth noting that imports from China last year were at 0.06 million lbs and this year we haven't imported any beef or cattle from China. Although the imports have increased from Argentina and the U.S. and decreased from most other countries total beef imports for January to August 2008 are nearly the same as the same time period in 2007, down 3% or 266 million lbs.
Canada's beef trade exports of 1,248 million lbs for the January to August period are 369% larger than beef imports. In other words Canada imports about 21% of what we export in terms of volume. In dollar terms imports are about 33% of exports. This difference in volume to value is attributed to the numbers of live cattle to be processed in the U.S. compared to the processed meats with more value imported into Canada from the U.S. and other countries.
In 2008 our most significant trading partner is the U.S. supplying Canada with 74% of imported beef and cattle imports. With the Looney losing value to the U.S. Greenback we will likely see a decline of imports going through the end of 2008 as it puts U.S. beef at a price disadvantage. If the volume of processed beef continues at the same rate we will likely see a shift to imports from other countries and away from the U.S. Overall we should not see too much of a change in 2008 volumes compared to 2007 with the year ending around 400 million lbs. However we should see about a 10% increase in dollar value of imports at around $900 million dollars.
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Now I have to ask,since we know The industry rule-of-thumb adopted by the International Trade Commission (ITC) is that a 1 percent increase in supply causes a 2 percent decrease in price,and we know these cattle are packer owned and controlled and we know they are used to put downward pressure on the market...................Why would the US cattle man be pro trade ?
good luck
With new country-of-origin labelling laws shutting Canadian hogs and cattle out of American markets, a growing number of Canadian producers are seeking trade actions.
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association and the Canadian Pork Council are asking their government to challenge the U.S. law under rules of the North American free-trade agreement. They warn that the COOL law will drive some Canadian producers out of business, reduce livestock herds and cost the two industries $800 million per year.
"They need to initiate a trade challenge against the U.S.," said John Masswohl of the CCA. He added that producers are concerned the law could be made even more troublesome to Canadian livestock producers if U.S. voters send more trade-protectionist politicians to Washington in Tuesday's elections.
Under COOL, Canadian animals are required to have documentation about their origin, and in the case of cattle, the animals must have identification tags that indicate they are mad cow disease-free. In addition, Canadian livestock must be segregated in U.S. feedlots and packing plants which increases the investment and digs into already narrow profit margins.
The Canadian pork industry may lose about $350-million a year if the law remains in effect without revisions. The presidents of both the CCA and the CPC have urged the Canadian government to take action. Together the two groups represent about 100,000 producers.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Ottawa wants to influence U.S. COOL laws by working with the American lawmakers and industry. "I would caution that if the federal government is taking the view that it must have concrete evidence of the adverse impact of COOL before approaching the U.S., very valuable time will be lost and any solution could come too late for the Canadian swine industry."
The cattlemen's association says some corporations, including Tyson, are already refusing Canadian cattle and that others such as Cargill may only slaughter Canadian cattle on certain days.
CCA president Brad Wildeman, who runs a feedlot near Lanigan Sask., was even more emphatic in his letter to the prime minister. "Our preliminary estimate is that COOL is reducing the value of Canadian cattle at a rate approaching $500-million per year. We fear that the next U.S. administration may further tighten the procedures," he wrote. "The worst has likely not yet been seen and we anticipate the costs could grow further. Therefore, we urge you to initiate a trade challenge immediately to seek repeal of this egregious U.S. law."
Ritz suggested if that isn't successful, Ottawa would consider launching a trade challenge.
"We have made it clear to the United States that we will consider all our options, including actions under both the North American Free Trade Agreement and World Trade Organization provisions, but right now we have a window of opportunity to influence the COOL regulations before they become final and we are focused on that," Ritz said.
The U.S. COOL law that took effect on October 1st is called an interim final rule. The final rule is expected to be passed next year.
Canada Cattle Update: Beef Imports;
Total beef and cattle imports from January to August have not changed all that much from a year ago with value up 7.3% at $620k versus $577k. However, there have been some differences in the breakdown of imports by country. Beef imports from the U.S. are 25% higher at 192 million lbs for the January to August 2008 time period compared to 154 million lbs for the same period in 2007.
Looking at other countries; imports from Australia are 13% lower than 2007 at 12 million lbs, New Zealand is 16% lower at 38 million lbs, the EU is down 88% at 0.005 million lbs, Brazil is down 40% at 4.9 million lbs. Argentina is up 17% from 2007 volumes at 1.6 million lbs, Uruguay is down 74% of 2007 at 9.8 million lbs and other sources are down 7% from 2007 levels at 0.06 million lbs. It is worth noting that imports from China last year were at 0.06 million lbs and this year we haven't imported any beef or cattle from China. Although the imports have increased from Argentina and the U.S. and decreased from most other countries total beef imports for January to August 2008 are nearly the same as the same time period in 2007, down 3% or 266 million lbs.
Canada's beef trade exports of 1,248 million lbs for the January to August period are 369% larger than beef imports. In other words Canada imports about 21% of what we export in terms of volume. In dollar terms imports are about 33% of exports. This difference in volume to value is attributed to the numbers of live cattle to be processed in the U.S. compared to the processed meats with more value imported into Canada from the U.S. and other countries.
In 2008 our most significant trading partner is the U.S. supplying Canada with 74% of imported beef and cattle imports. With the Looney losing value to the U.S. Greenback we will likely see a decline of imports going through the end of 2008 as it puts U.S. beef at a price disadvantage. If the volume of processed beef continues at the same rate we will likely see a shift to imports from other countries and away from the U.S. Overall we should not see too much of a change in 2008 volumes compared to 2007 with the year ending around 400 million lbs. However we should see about a 10% increase in dollar value of imports at around $900 million dollars.
-----------------------------------------
Now I have to ask,since we know The industry rule-of-thumb adopted by the International Trade Commission (ITC) is that a 1 percent increase in supply causes a 2 percent decrease in price,and we know these cattle are packer owned and controlled and we know they are used to put downward pressure on the market...................Why would the US cattle man be pro trade ?
good luck
