C-202 – An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act (supply management) – prevents the Minister of Foreign Affairs from agreeing to change our supply management on specific products.
For anyone that doesn’t know, products that fall under our supply management have a limit on how much can be imported with little to no tariffs. Once you’ve exceeded this quota the tariffs kick in and make it a lot less appealing to keep importing. If you’ve heard Trump talking about 250% tariffs, this is where he’s getting that number from. The goal of this is to make sure Canadians have access to these products by importing enough to make up for any shortfall in local production while also preventing foreign companies from flooding the market with cheap alternatives that Canadian companies can’t compete with.
Yves-François wants to make it so the Minister of Foreign Affairs can’t sign any international agreements that would change this system. Under this Act the Minister won’t be allowed to commit us to reducing the tariffs or increasing the quota on any dairy, egg, or poultry products. This is pretty clearly an attempt to keep these markets off the bargaining table when it comes to resolving the current tariff war with the US.
Progress of C-202
By unanimous consent C-202 skipped every step in the House and was sent straight to the Senate.
It then passed in the Senate without any changes, and is now waiting for Royal Assent.
Discover more from Commons Sense
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.