Challenges in Dairy Importation: Understanding Fill Rates and Consumer Demand

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 35-per-cent tariffs on imports from Canada starting on Aug. 1. And when it comes to trade negotiations, Canadian dairy – and the supply management system that oversees the industry – is treated like a “sacred cow.”

Trump has repeatedly aired frustrations over U.S. dairy farmers’ limited access to Canada’s market. Despite this, Ottawa has continued to make efforts to protect the industry from trade negotiations – even while Prime Minister Mark Carney makes other concessions.

The Globe’s agriculture and food policy reporter, Kate Helmore, joins the show to explain how supply management works, why it makes negotiating trade deals around dairy so challenging, and just how much political sway the dairy industry has.

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