The US industry appears to be mainly avoiding the issues by expanding production in areas that are relatively high in cost. South America has the same opportunity as Canada, but is far behind in developing a basic infrastructure. Canada's Overall Competitiveness Putting this information together, it would appear that Canada is on the brink of being one of the most competitive pork producers in the world. It already has competitive production costs. It is in the process of enhancing the competitiveness of the processing industry.
Some competitors face major problems in maintaining their position.
The Canadian industry has the natural and human resources that can provide the means to produce pork safely with environmental responsibility. In fact, if the appropriate processes are developed, it is likely that these factors could be a source of price premium from those target markets which value these characteristics, a part of the market that is growing. In a larger sense, Canada is poised to take advantage of these factors at the very time world demand is growing because of falling trade barriers and rising prosperity in some parts of the world. However, competitiveness is not just about cost - if so no one would drive a Lexus or Mercedes. So there are some qualifiers that need to be acknowledged in this scenario.