Babington said key organizations in the agriculture community are rallying in response to talk of trimming the USDA's budget. Bush was to outline his budget plan before a joint session of Congress Feb. 27. His proposal is expected to be followed by intense debate and political lobbying. The content of that announcement was unknown at press time, but if the expected cuts occur to the USDA's export development programs, that is great news for Canadian farmers, said a national farm lobby leader. Friesen considers many of the American agricultural export promotion programs and food aid programs to be nothing but veiled export subsidies, which the CFA has been fighting for years.
Export subsidies are one of the most trade-distorting subsidies that anybody can pay.
Any form of cuts that have to do with the Americans shipping grain into the international marketplace certainly helps us. Canadian Wheat Board officials and a spokesperson for agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief declined to comment on the speculation surrounding the budget cuts. But Brian Clancey, publisher of the Stat newsletter, isn't sure it will be good for Canadian farmers if the cuts come to pass. He said if the USDA is forced to trim its export development budget, it could hurt Canadian export efforts as well. We can't piggyback on them any more.