Publicación de Paraguayan American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. - USA

The statements issued by the #USTR and Global Affairs Canada, asking Mexico to start consultations under chapter 31 of the #USMCA / #CUSMA to find a solution to the restrictions to import GM corn, and the Friday 2 June press release of the Mexican Economics Secretariat, read like people talking past each other, making analysts to expect this issue will end in a panel. The US & Canada ask Mexico to provide the scientific evidence that supports the 13 February decree and the arguments that justify that the import restrictions created by the decree do not contravene article 2.11 of the agreement, nor article 11 of the GATT. While Mexico says the decree has not meant any commercial damage for the US. On 27 February, Economía issued a press release saying the controversy is fueled by political and not by commercial interests. The US Congress needs to approve the 2023 Farm Bill - the most important agriculture and food policy instrument of that country - by 30 September, and the GM corn issue is most important since Mexico is the second largest destination of US corn exports that represents 26.4% of the total value of all corn exports, the most important US export produce. It seems that the pressure from Congress is going to make the USTR to stop dragging its feet, sooner than later. You may read the details in my column for this week for El Financiero with the link below.

Exciting opportunities are on the horizon for UK pork exporters following the UK's decision to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). This move particularly opens up new prospects in Mexico, a country with a substantial demand for high-quality pork. Last year, British pork was exported to Mexico for the first time, a deal worth £50m over the first five years of trade. The new trade deal, which was signed in late March, will eliminate the 'most favoured nation' tariffs of up to 20%, making Mexico an even more attractive market for pork exporters in the UK. This is a significant development considering Mexico's position as the 15th largest economy in the world and the second largest in Latin America. The AHDB has expressed optimism about this development, citing Mexico's growing demand for high-quality products and the UK's high regard for welfare and food safety standards. This market expansion holds promise not just for pork meat products but also for offal, as the AHDB is working to gain market access for it. In addition, Defra has recently appointed Catrina Kenny as a new Agri Attaché, based in the UK’s Embassy in Mexico, to further boost exports in this market. This is an exciting time for UK farmers and producers, and we are eager to see how these new opportunities will stimulate growth in the industry. #UKPork #TradeDeal https://lnkd.in/ee4hTatM

A priceless opportunity to sell “more affordable high-quality #cheese to #Canada” was one of those many #Brexit boons that Boris Johnson championed with his customary blather as prime minister. A bespoke UK-Canada #trade deal was going to open up the Canadian market to #cheddar, stilton and wensleydale in a way that had never been possible under a trading agreement struck between the EU and Canada. But after a meeting in recent days between Britain’s cheese makers and the UK government’s negotiating team there is a whiff to Johnson’s boasts that would put a stinking bishop to shame. Not only are the British negotiators getting nowhere fast on the terms of a comprehensive trade deal with Canada, but the UK’s attempts to at least extend a rollover of the EU terms of trade on cheese exports have been squarely rejected by their Canadian counterparts. A previous side arrangement, known as the “cheese letters”, maintaining healthy tariff-free export quotas on cheese will come to an end on 31 December without anything tasty to replace it, the government has conceded. British cheese exports will from 1 January default to the non-EU tariff-free quota, of which about 95% is already spoken for by Norwegian and Swiss producers, among others. Imports into Canada falling outside that quota will end up being slapped with a 245% duty, making them unaffordable for even the most dedicated fan of artisanal cheese. #trq #tariff

"New Zealand has won a significant trade dispute with Canada over dairy quota, the first case taken under the CPTPP and the first dispute New Zealand has ever taken against any partner in a free trade agreement. The binding decision, made by an independent panel, has just been released and the result should give dairy producers in New Zealand improved access to the Canadian market. It finds that Canada has been breaching the CPTPP rules and will have to change its ways. NZ trade officials estimate that the restrictive way Canada has run its dairy quota has cost New Zealand exporters about $120 million in lost revenue in the past three years. New Zealand argued that Canada was violating both the spirit and rules of the CPTPP, that unless challenged, it would set a dangerous precedent for compliance and that Canada was making a mockery of the rules that it had signed up to. Canada had adopted a protectionist administration system for its dairy quota that undermined access and reduced its value to CPTPP parties, the NZ case said. New Zealand was supported in its case against Canada by most of the other CPTPP countries. At the heart of the case was the unorthodox and restrictive way Canada was managing the annual tariff-free quota it had negotiated for 16 classes of dairy products when it joined CPTPP, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership among 10 countries which came into force in December 2018. Canada declined to fully open up its market to dairy imports from CPTPP partners when it signed up to CPTPP but negotiated limited access in the form of quotas, known officially as tariff rate quotas (TRQs). The TRQ schedule sets out a certain volume of tariff-free dairy products that it will allow to be imported to Canada over 19 years from other CPTPP partners, usually increasing in volume each year. The 16 categories are: industrial cheese; whey powder; yogurt and buttermilk; cream; ice-cream and mixes; skim milk powders; butter; milk powders; other dairy; cream powders; products consisting of natural milk constituents; powdered buttermilk; cheeses of all types; concentrated milk; milk; and mozzarella and prepared cheese. One of the most restrictive measures Canada used was to completely block retailers - such as supermarket chains - from acquiring any of the quota allocation – a group that would be highly motivated to import dairy products from NZ and possibly other CPTPP partners. Instead, Canada set up a complex system that meant the allocations were channelled away from Canadian importers who were likely to use the quota to buy NZ goods. Instead, the quota was acquired by “processors” who manufactured the same dairy product identified in the TRQ. Because they were direct competitors, they did not have a good reason to utilise the TRQ.The result, as the NZ submission pointed out, was that “Canada makes its domestic dairy processors gatekeepers of their own competition”." https://lnkd.in/g9u3Z5_3

"Among the structural challenges facing the poultry industry are recurring power cuts, which have increased in intensity and duration in recent years. These have been accompanied by sharp increases in energy costs as measured by the electricity tariff. Other factors are poor economic infrastructure, including road, rail and ports, and the failure of municipalities to provide basic services such as water and well-maintained roads. Increasing import tariffs will not remedy these socioeconomic problems. Raising import tariffs on chicken meat products may boost profits for domestic producers in the short term, but it will not address the real cause of the domestic industry's problem. SA needs a robust and competitive poultry industry to ensure food security and guarantee supplies of chicken meat, a reasonably priced staple choice for the poor majority. Building protective tariff walls for domestic producers will not deliver a robust and competitive industry. It will only lead to higher prices for chicken meat, further squeezing low-income households. Government and industry stakeholders must seek a balance between assisting domestic poultry producers to become competitive and guaranteeing food security and a stable supply of chicken meat. The Poultry Master Plan emphasises this balance. It recognises the role imports play in keeping chicken meat reasonably priced, especially for low- and middle-income households. Restricting imports by reintroducing the import tariff would jeopardise current and future chicken meat consumption, a development that would hit low-income households the hardest. Reintroducing tariffs on chicken meat imports would therefore amount to imposing pain on the country without any gain in the medium- to long-term, without the competitive domestic poultry industry that can ensure food security and guarantee the poor their most relied-on source of protein. Moreover, alienating ourselves from long-established trading partners will only do further damage as we see more foreign investment and trade projects, with the associated productive capital, failing to reach fruition."