The US imports over $100 million
worth of tomatoes per month,even during peak US tomato-growing season.

“African-grown coffee is being
packed 3,500 miles away in India,
Canadian prawns are processedin Iceland, and Bolivian nuts arebeing packed in Italy.”“California imports as manycherries and almonds as it exports.”- Congressional Research Service, 2017

- UK Times, 2007

- A Place-Based Perspective of Food inSociety, 2015

just how

INSANEis TRADE

these days?

Consider that...
• Mexican calves — fed American corn — are exported to the United States, where
they are butchered for meat, which is then sold in Mexico.
• In 2007, Britain and Australia exchanged 20 tons of bottled water just with eachother.
• More than half of the seafood caught in Alaska is processed in China; much of it issent right back to American supermarkets.

Why does
this insane
trade
happen?

“Globalization, that unseen force
that supposedly eliminates
inefficiencies through the magic oftrade, has radically disconnected
us from our seafood supply.”- New York Times, 2014

How is it cheaper to ship food across the world forprocessing than to process it where it was grown orcaught?
Companies often relocate labor-intensive workoverseas to minimize costs – Scotland’s minimum
wage is about four times that of China, for instance,
which explains why Scottish fish is often processedin China. With global fossil fuel subsidies (direct andindirect) on the order of $5 trillion per year, this energy-intensive way of doing business is often less expensive for large food distributors, though it carries
great costs for the environment and for livelihoodsin the food’s country of origin. Lax international free
trade rules help make this possible as well.
Why else might countries “re-import” their ownproducts?
In many cases, companies export and re-import
goods to benefit from tax policy loopholes. Forexample, China’s value-added tax (VAT) allows
businesses to claim tax rebates by exporting theirproducts, while other businesses can then re-importthose same products to claim rebates of their own.
Fossil fuel subsidies, which reduce transport costs forbusinesses, help make this a viable strategy.
The results are absurd. For example, in most years
since 2005, China has imported more from itself
than from the United States – despite being the US’s
third-largest export market.
Availability of crops varies seasonally – is this afactor in global trade?
Not really. Even in the height of apple season in thenorthern US, apples from New Zealand and Chileflood supermarket shelves – and regardless of origin,many supermarket apples stay in cold storage forup to a year, so the season doesn’t matter. Distributors source from wherever is least expensive within
their established channels. Supermarkets will choose
apples from 10,000 miles away if they’re cheaper thanapples grown just 10 miles away. Same with otherfresh foods.
The main contributors to insane trade are subsidizedtransport, free trade agreements, import-export tax
rebates, and differences in labor costs and environmental and safety regulations – not seasonal availability of fresh produce.

Mongolia has 10 times more dairy
animals than people...

Meanwhile, cod caught off Norway...

... yet its supermarket shelves carry more European than local
dairy products.

...goes on a 10,000-mile round trip to be fileted and returned forsale on the local market.

How does global trade affect the climate?
In 2012, commercial ships produced over a million
tons of CO2 per day – more than the emissions of
the UK, or Canada, or Brazil. That’s roughly 4% of
the world’s CO2 emissions – and it’s set to grow to
17% by 2050 if current trade rules continue. The
growing aviation industry will produce another
20% of global emissions by 2050. And that doesn’t
account for the infrastructure needed to support
long-distance trade – including cement production,
which already contributes 8% of the world’s emissions per year.

IMF, Worldwatch InstituteRemarkably, climate agreements like the Paris Accords do not account for the emissions from international trade: the CO2 emitted by the thousands of oiltankers, container ships and cargo-carrying aircraftthat crisscross the globe do not appear in any nation’s
CO2 accounting. Why? Because policymakers believe that trade – and the growth of global GDP – ismore important than the climate. Insane!

What about differences between regional crop andlivestock varieties? Does this explain why countries
both import and export identical foods?
In most cases, no. In the world of big agribusinessand global trade, foods are interchangeable commodities – they’re grown in large quantities, andregional differences are something to be eliminated.
For monocultural producers and large- scale marketers, the goal is uniformity.
Sometimes, regional differences in foods do influence global trade – but not in the way you might
expect. For example, beef from factory-farmed cows
in the US is usually too fatty to be sold as hamburger
meat. So, that beef gets shipped abroad, and leaner
grass-fed beef gets imported. Changing animal husbandry practices in the US would solve this problem(and several others) – but because of subsidies forfossil fuels and transport infrastructures, insane
trade is the industry's most profitable “solution”.

Do people just want to buy food, and other things,
from far away?
Imported goods are treated as a status symbol insome parts of the world. This attitude has gained
traction with the help of extensive advertising thatmakes foreign products appear superior and links
self-worth to the consumption of foreign and industrialized products.
It has also contributed to a common business attitude that sees production for export as the pinnacleof success.

“In terms of volume, world tradeis nearly 32 times greater now
than it was in 1950...”“[In 2014], Canada was theworld’s fifth-largest exporter ofagriculture and agri-food products. Canadian export sales grewby 12.0% over 2013 levels to$51.5 billion.”“With import sales of $39.4
billion in 2014 — an increaseof 14.9% over the previous year
— Canada remained the world’s
sixth-largest importer [of agricultural products].”- WTO & UNEP, 2009

- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

“By purchasing locally grown
foods, you help maintain farmland and green and/or open spacein your community.”“A study in northeastern Iowa
indicated that greater income
and employment was generated
by farms with local sales than byregional grain farms.”“...food grown in the local community is less likely to be disrupted by transportation issues, largescale food-borne illness outbreaks,weather, and high fuel costs.”- Michigan State University
Extension, 2013

- North Carolina State University
Extension, 2013

- University of Missouri Extension, 2019

To reduce CO2 emissions, create more jobs, and build stronger communities:

Say NO to insane trade••••

Speak up – share this factsheet and the Insane Trade short film.
Call for an end to corporate subsidies and tax breaks.
Critically question “free trade” dogma.
Support steps to internalize the costs of fossil fuels.

Support your Local Economy• Buy local food and other local products.
• Help build local food systems and local business alliances.
• Grow the movement by organizing a workshop, study group, or film
screening about economic localization.

hyperlinks: click on the text to visit the document source
References
Congressional Research Service, 2017 • UK Times, 2007 • A Place-Based Perspective ofFood in Society, 2015 • Mexican calves fed US corn • the bottle water exchange • Alaskan
seafood goes to China • and comes right back • minimum wage in Scotland • minimum
wage in China • global fossil fuel subsidies • New York Times, 2014 • dairy in Mongolia •China is US’s third- largest export market • tax dodging in China through re-importation• year-old supermarket apples • commodity crops defined • fatty US beef sent abroad •shipping CO2 emissions in 2012 • shipping CO2 emissions by 2050 • shipping and aviation
emissions by 2050 • emissions from cement production • trade emissions not accounted
for in international agreements • graph from IMF, Worldwatch Institute • WTO & UNEP,
2009 • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2016 • Michigan State University, 2013 • North
Carolina State University, 2013 • University of Missouri, 2019