66 GERMINATION.CA JANUARY 2019 ON NOV. 30, 2018 trade tensions between the United States and Canada subsided as President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau signed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Hopefully, this will close the tensest chapter in the relation- ship between these two neighbours in over 80 years. However, only time will tell. President Trump is consider- ing auto tariffs that would re-escalate the situation and provoke counter- tariffs from Canada. President Trump is unlikely to exempt Canada even with the renewed goodwill. The USMCA is largely a moderni- zation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which it replaced. There are several positive changes for the seed industry. First, USMCA requires all parties to accede to UPOV 1991, the latest and strictest version of the interna- tional plant variety protection treaty. Previously, countries were given the option to join UPOV 1978 or 1991. Canada and the United States are already members of the 1991 Convention, Mexico is not. Second, the new agreement pro- vides robust and highly enforceable phytosanitary standards and high- lights the importance of science-based decision-making processes. USMCA provides guidance on regulatory equivalence, transparency, coopera- tive technical consultations, and the creation of rapid-response mechanisms with stricter standards and deadlines for adverse import checks. And it requires countries to adopt seed policies that are aligned with the International Plant Protection Convention’s Seed Standard. This should make it faster, more predict- able, and less expensive to move seed within North America. Finally, the United States Trade Representative highlighted that USMCA is the first trade agreement that specifically addresses agricultural biotechnology to support 21st-cen- tury innovations in agriculture. This agreement covers all types of agri- culture biotechnology including plant breeding innovations like gene edit- ing. It decreases the likelihood that shipments will be stopped because of low-level presence. These modifications and additions will benefit the seed industry. They will increase bilateral communication at the government-to-government level and further facilitate seed trade. Plus, they will provide stronger intel- lectual property protection for plant breeders. While this one piece of the com- plicated trade environment seems to be resolved, the rest of the landscape has not improved. The trade dispute between the United States and China is still escalating. On Sept. 24, 2018, the United States placed a 10 per cent tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. This impacted over Michelle Klieger, Stratagerm Consulting GETREADYFOR HIGHERSEEDPRICES 10% IS THE TARIFF THE UNITED STATES PUT ON $2OO BILLION WORTH OF CHINESE IMPORTS 10-25% IS THE AMOUNT OF TARIFFS PRESIDENT TRUMP COULD RAISE Only time will tell if the newly-signed U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement will reduce trade tensions. “SEED COMPANIES WILLLIKELY PASSONPART OFTHE$10 MILLIONIN TARIFFSTO CANADIAN PRODUCERS.”