After the United States slapped a 50% tariff on certain Canadian imports, the Canadian government fired back with scaling retaliatory tariffs, with 15%, 25%, and 50% on specific items. During the ongoing trade war, and with how it's affecting Manitoba's farmers and ag producers, the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation announced a long list of supports.
Cam Dahl, General Manager of Manitoba Pork, said the company is in support of those reliefs, saying it'll help give Manitoba's agriculture more independence, and will greatly promote agricultural investment in the province.
"We're very pleased with the response, some of these measures, such as enhancements to loan guarantees programs, enhancements to funding for ongoing operations, these are things that we've been working on together with the province for some time...if you look at building a new finishing barn, it's gonna cost about 15 million dollars. So this increase in the loan guarantee program will allow producers to access loan guarantees for about a third of that cost of building that facility, or building that infrastructure," said Dahl.
Two of the most notable changes that Dahl and Manitoba Pork support are an increase to the loan amount under the Diversification Loan Guarantee Program, up to $5 million from $1.5 million, and increasing the guaranteed portion of loans from both that program and the Operating Credit Guarantee Program to 33.33%, up from 25%. Dahl said those measures will help give Manitoba's farmers a bit more certainty.
Though he said the changes are very welcome, Dahl still wants Manitoba Pork's great trading relationships with American states and companies to continue. The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) has shown that trade diversification when it comes to agriculture can lead to a lot of benefits, not just when it comes to prices.
"One of the biggest impacts that we're seeing from the uncertainty with our largest trading partner, the United States, is the reluctance, or inability to invest in the future growth of the industry, and that just comes from not knowing what your market is gonna look like, six months or a year from now...agriculture in general, in the United States, and Mexico and Canada, really does recognize the benefits that have come because of trade liberalization, and the integration of our agriculture and food markets," said Dahl.
Other announcements from the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation include increasing the Operating Credit Guarantee Program to $3 million for individuals, corporations, and partnerships, and expanding eligibility for the Diversification Loan Guarantee Program to include oilseed and grain operations.
