January 10, 2025

 

Prince Edward Island, Canada beef industry concerned about tariffs imposed by incoming US Trump administration

 

 

Parties in the beef industry of Prince Edward Island, Canada, have told US politicians face to face that they are worried about incoming US President Donald Trump's impending tariff on imports from Canada.

 

Trump is promising to slap a 25% tariff on all goods entering the United States from Canada and Mexico on January 20, his first day in office, unless the countries curb the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders.

 

Russ Mallard, the president of Atlantic Beef Products, as well as chair of the Canadian Meat Council, was part of a Canadian delegation who went to Washington in December to express Canadian concerns to Republican members of the Senate and chair of the agriculture committee for the House of Representatives.

 

"We had a chance to express our concerns about how it would affect not only our industries here, but also their industries there and their consumers there, with the possibility of high prices," said Mallard.

 

He added that US legislators were familiar with the concerns about the proposed tariff, since they have been hearing the same thing from some of their own constituents.

 

A Statistics Canada report recorded just 7,100 beef cattle being reared on Prince Edward Island in January 2024. That's about 1.5% of Canada's total beef production, at 11.9 million head, with Alberta being the largest producer at 44 million cattle. Herds are at record lows in both Canada and the US.

 

Mallard said about 35% of all the beef produced in Canada is exported to the US, where Canadian beef, pork, and other meats often undergo further processing.

 

If tariffs are put in place, he said Canadian meats will cost more for US processors to buy, and may even become unavailable south of the border. That will mean US consumers will end up paying more for their meat — a message he and others tried to drive home in Washington.

 

"Value adding that happens in the US now with Canadian products as a raw material may become less available. Therefore, [there is the] possibility of job losses in the US from these value-adding companies," Mallard said.

 

If US companies reject Canadian beef as too expensive, that beef will stay in Canada. New markets will have to be found for it, or Canadian production will have to be cut back as the Canadian market will be flooded with beef.

 

"It may cause the beef prices to come down at the consumer level for a short period of time," Mallard said.

 

He added that short-term grocery bill break would eventually disappear as farmers cut back production.

 

"It'll cause hardship for beef producers, because perhaps production levels get cut back here in Canada. Cattle back up into the farms in the countryside, and then you end up with too many cattle around for the size of the market," said Mallard. "That could mean falling prices for beef producers in Canada, and that wouldn't be good news for beef producers."

 

- CBC