Farm Credit Canada's Vice President and Chief Economist J.P. Gervais says the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CP-TPP) will help Canada's agriculture diversify away from the U.S.
Gervais notes it will take some time to expand Canada's presence in the member countries of the trade deal.
"We're not talking months. Somebody was mentioning the possibility that this deal could actually effect seeding decisions in 2018, I just don't believe that. It's going to take some time before we are actually seeing Canadian companies develop new relationships. That's what it's going to take with different buyers in these countries."
The CP-TPP is good news for Canada's grain and oilseeds, Gervais says.
"95 per cent of the wheat Japan buys comes from the U.S., Australia, and Canada. Of course Australia is part of the TPP deal, but before that they already had their own deal with Japan. Now we're having the same sort of market access as Australia currently enjoys, and the Unites States is left out of it. It's not only the fact that we're able to get in on a market place, but we're able to get in with a really good product, if you think of Canadian wheat, at a lower cost than our competitors."
Gervais says one of the sectors that will see the most benefits from this deal is food processors.
He explains this deal, along with the European trade agreement CETA, will allow food processors to diversify, since about three quarters of it's export sales goes to the United States.
Source : Steinbachonline