The marketing model of maple products in Quebec.

The marketing model of maple products in Quebec.

Proposing $13 billion of compensation to farmers to end supply management.

Proposing $13 billion of compensation to farmers to end supply management.

Proposing $13 billion of compensation to farmers to end supply management.

Since the 1970s, farms in the dairy, poultry, and egg sectors have been subject to supply management, a system which combines production quotas, price controls, and import barriers to increase the prices of goods produced by these farms. The negative effects of this system for consumers have been studied in depth, and there is now a broad consensus regarding their existence and amplitude. The question of compensating farmers in order to abolish this regime remains an open one.

Supply management 101.

Two examples of measures that would be beneficial to consumers and producers on both sides of the border.

Two examples of measures that would be beneficial to consumers and producers on both sides of the border.

During the American election campaign, Donald Trump criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement on several occasions, going so far as to call it “a disaster,” and he clearly stated his intention to renegotiate it. Although the new president is wrong to target it as the source of the economic ills afflicting his country, it is true that NAFTA could be improved.