PPC leader Maxime Bernier says Canadians are “shooting ourselves in the foot with retaliatory tariffs,” and everything should be put on the table to negotiate free trade with the US.
Including the Supply Management Agreement that tariffs the US 250% to 300% on dairy, eggs and poultry, said Bernier.
US officials, including Trump himself, have criticized the steep tariffs as a result of the Supply Management Agreement and made the issue one of their main points of contention.
“The most important economic challenge facing Canada these days is the trade dispute with the US,” said Bernier at a press conference in Montreal on Friday.
“The first task is to find common ground with the Trump administration to see what can be saved from the North American Free Trade Agreement."
Bernier referenced comments made by Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday, where he said the relationship between Canada and the US “is over” and things will “never be the same again.”
“It may be true — we will see in the near future — but nothing has been set in a stone. Regardless of what we think of President Trump's decisions and strategy, this relationship is too important for Canada to let it deteriorate completely without doing everything we can do to get it back on track.”
He argued retaliatory tariffs will only add new taxes to Canadians themselves, but will not have a major impact on the American economy, which is 12 times larger, and depends much less on trade between the two countries than Canada does.
“We cannot win a trade war with the US,” said Bernier.
“Supply Management is a costly and inefficient system setting prices and charging Canadians twice as much as they should for dairy products.”
“It is also a system that prevents producers from innovating and exporting, because our market is closed to imports. We cannot sacrifice the rest of the Canadian economy to save this bad system.”
Bernier said Carney and Tory leader Pierre Poilievre, who said this week he will never get rid of supply management, will not be able to sign a new free trade deal with Trump if they don’t put the issue on the table.
“The politicians of this country, the establishment politicians, lie to the [dairy] producers, and Canadians, by telling them that they will always protect that system, and they are lying to Canadians by telling them that supply management is very good for them when, on the contrary, it makes them poor.”
He added the supply management system, which Bernier calls the “dairy cartel,” negatively impacts other sectors of the Canadian economy by preventing better free trade agreements.”
“It is time to abolish the supply management system in the interest of consumers, dairy producers and the entire Canadian economy.”
When asked about concerns some have about American dairy products flooding the market if the agreement were to be abolished, Bernier said that issue would be part of the negotiation.
“Yes, when that system is abolished, dairy producers and poultry and eggs producers will be able to export their products,” Bernier told the Western Standard.
Bernier acknowledged the cancellation of the agreement would require a transition period over the course of a couple years, and said Ottawa will need to buy back the quotas that Canadian dairy farmers are now required to pay for. If farmers surpass the quota the federal government has allowed them, their product goes to waste and it becomes illegal to sell.
“We will be able to do that by having a good price for quotas,” said Bernier.
"That's why we need to start by sitting with them and having a negotiation so they will be able to export — but also US dairy products will be able to come to our market.”
“And Canadians and consumers will be able to choose what they want.”
Bernier also alluded to the quality of milk coming from the US into Canada, with a major difference being American laws allow dairy cows to add hormones to milk, while Canadian laws prohibit it.
“If they want to export their products, they will have to [follow the same rules as] our dairy producers, so it would be fair for everybody.”
