Trying to dictate demand and supply from the top down was always going to fail. Sacrificing that to keep CUSMA would actually be two wins

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In the midst of President Donald Trump’s deeply harmful tariff rampage, the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) provides a vital haven for exempted goods. But the tenure of that agreement is increasingly uncertain. One of the most contentious issues is restrictions on the import of U.S. milk, eggs and poultry under Canada’s agricultural supply management system.

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Supply management uses quotas and fixed prices for milk, eggs and poultry with the intention of matching supply with demand while restricting imports. Producers need quota in order to produce and sell output legally. Given the thousands of farmers spread across the country, combined with the fact that the quotas are specific to milk, eggs, chickens and turkey, the bureaucracy (and number of bureaucrats) required is huge. And extremely costly.  Department of Agri-Food 2024-25 transfer payments