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Canadian beef producers are protesting against Ottawa’s plan for a free-trade deal with South America’s Mercosur bloc, as they fear a flood of cheaper imported meat will devastate their multibillion-dollar industry.
Canadian Cattle Association president Tyler Fulton said a Mercosur deal has “pretty dubious benefits” for the country, as the government of Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks to double non-US exports to reduce its over-reliance on the American economy.
“It just doesn’t represent a reciprocal market opportunity,” he said. “There’s significant benefit in accessing the Canadian beef market, but there’s really very limited opportunity for Canadians.”
The CAA, which represents 60,000 cattle farmers and feedlots, reports that imports into Canada from Mercosur countries increased 238 per cent from 2021 to 2025, adding their annual quotas were filled in days this year.
Mercosur comprises Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, with Bolivia in transition to full membership. Its exports are dominated by commodities such as oil, minerals and agricultural produce.
Welber Barral, a consultant at BMJ Associados and former Brazilian trade official, said Canadian opposition was part of the negotiating process.
“In Europe, it ended up leading to a quota. Brazil and Mercosur will try to make it free trade. It’s part of the game,” he said.
Fulton dismissed claims of protectionism, as Canada is “very exposed to imports”, adding: “Canada last year imported 30 per cent of its beef while the US is 19 per cent and the EU is 7 per cent.”
Brazil is the world’s largest beef exporter, with 3.5mn tonnes of shipments last year worth $18bn. Its exports in the first quarter of 2026 increased by 18 per cent in volume and more than a third in revenue, according to an industry body.
The South American nation’s largest customer for beef, China, recently tightened access to its market. Industry experts predicted this could lead to product being diverted to other destinations. Fellow Mercosur member Argentina is another top producer.
Fulton said the Mercosur deal risks undermining farmers’ growing national cattle herd numbers after prolonged drought while “China’s quotas add a surge in imports”.
In 2025 Canadian beef exports reached C$5.3bn, up 7.7 per cent from 2024, despite slightly lower volumes. Canada sends 75 per cent of its beef exports to the US.
Carney has travelled across the world seeking trade deals in a bid to “catalyse C$1tn in total investment in Canada over the next five years”.
Canada started Mercosur talks in 2018 but reinvigorated the process as a response to US trade turbulence. It hopes to sign an agreement before the end of 2026, the FT reported in December.
In April, Ontario’s beef farmers wrote to Carney opposing Mercosur access, “as it would introduce lower-cost, lower-quality imports that ultimately harm consumers, the environment, rural communities and farm families”.
Fears of a flood of cheap produce led to a wave of protests by European farmers against the EU-Mercosur free-trade deal. Brussels then decided to provisionally apply the agreement from the start of May.
Fulton said US counterparts have warned that Mercosur beef imports are viewed as a “backdoor” into their markets that may breach the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
Graeme Crosbie, a Farm Credit Canada senior economist, said Mercosur countries’ global reach in the beef trade was “indisputable” but they send mostly frozen or cheaper cuts to North America.
“There needs to be caution with Mercosur, not just the beef sector, considering the USMCA formal review kicks off in July,” he said.
Brazil’s association of meat exporters pushed back against the criticism, saying the sector obeyed import quotas and Canada was not in their top 15 export destinations.
“Last year, we exported approximately 14,000 tonnes of beef to Canada, a fairly low volume compared to the country’s consumption. In the first quarter of this year, it was approximately 3,000 tonnes, which equates to about 1,000 tonnes per month,” said a spokesperson.
“Any agreement with Mercosur must work for Canadian businesses and workers across the country,” said a spokesperson for Maninder Sidhu, Canada’s international trade minister, who met with the CAA last week.
Canada’s beef sector supports 350,000 jobs and contributes $34.2bn to GDP each year.
