On July 1, the Trump administration declined to renew the deal for another 16-year term. The deal is not dead, and will continue to be active for another 10 years, with rolling annual reviews.<\/p>\n
The FVGC is pushing for CUSMA to be renewed before that 10-year window closes resulting in the deal expiring, according to Nielsen.<\/p>\n
\u201c[CUSMA is] working for fruit and vegetable growers. It\u2019s working for fruit and vegetable farmers in Canada, and we have highly integrated value chains, and we would like to see that continue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The tension in trade between Canada and the U.S. intensified on July 20 when Trump signed three executive proclamations ordering 50-per-cent tariffs on approximately $20-billion worth of Canadian exports. The tariffs are scheduled to take effect on Aug. 19, and will also apply to goods covered by CUSMA, according to the orders. Fresh fruit and vegetable exports are currently safe from the new tariff, although the long list of goods that fall under the tariff includes alcohol, dairy products, smartphones, video game consoles, paper, furniture, and many others.<\/p>\n
In response to Trump\u2019s latest tariff threat, Prime Minister Mark Carney (Nepean, Ont.) said his government \u201cwill do whatever it takes\u201d to defend Canada\u2019s interests, as CBC News reported<\/a> on July 23.<\/p>\n Nielsen told The Hill Times that even as Ottawa explores trade diversification options with other countries, the U.S. remains the primary market for domestic fruits and vegetables in part because of its proximity.<\/p>\n \u201cFor fruits and vegetables, in most cases, the storage is limited. Harvest has to take place at a specific time. Transportation has to be done, often in some sort of cold-storage manner. If there\u2019s a border closure and an inspection delay, [or] a tariff \u2026 growers cannot simply store products and wait for improved conditions,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cLong distances can be problematic. The natural trade partner is the United States, so it\u2019s important for us to be able to continue that trading relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n Last month, FVGC\u2019s advocacy activity included communication with Liberal MP Michael Coteau (Scarborough\u2014Woburn, Ont.), chair of the House Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee, on June 6. The organization also communicated with CSG Senator Robert Black (Ontario), CSG Senator Mary Robinson (Prince Edward Island), and Sandra Pupatello (Ontario), chair of the Government Representative\u2019s Office in the Senate, all on June 2.<\/p>\n Besides trade, the FVGC\u2019s advocacy priorities last month included discussing crop protection, labour, and business risk management and mitigation, according to Nielsen.<\/p>\n Related to crop protection, the organization was discussing its support of Bill C-30, the Spring Economic Update 2026 Implementation Act, which received royal assent on June 18. Measures covered in the bill include suspending the federal fuel excise tax on gasoline and diesel from April 20, 2026, to Sept. 7, 2026, cutting costs by $0.10 per litre on gasoline and $0.04 on diesel fuel, extending excise duty relief for the alcohol sector, including a two per cent cap on annual inflationary duty increases and reduced rates for the first 15,000 hectolitres of beer brewed in Canada, and extending the Home Buyers\u2019 Plan repayment grace period from two to five years for withdrawals made from RRSPs between 2026 and 2028, according to a June 19 press release<\/a> from the Department of Finance.<\/p>\n The bill was not without controversy, with backlash from groups including Ecojustice<\/a> arguing the bill\u2019s sweeping changes would also grant powers to cabinet to override science-based decisions by the health minister, and permit the use of pesticides \u201cdeemed to pose unacceptable environmental risks.\u201d<\/p>\n Nielsen said the FVGC is pleased that the legislation takes into account \u201cfood security\u201d in the decision-making process when it comes to pesticides.<\/p>\n \u201cHuman health continues to be a priority in its protection, and that\u2019s one of the roles of the [Canadian Food Inspection Agency], but now it\u2019s going to consider more food security, and what that means is making approvals faster because they\u2019re basically reducing the ability for our growers to deal with pests and diseases \u2026 that are putting a strain on fruit and vegetable growers,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been advocating for many years that growers need timely access to effective crop protection tools; to be able to manage pests, diseases, weeds, invasive species, and extreme weather pressures, and without these tools, Canada risks reduced crop yield and quality issues of our crops.\u201d<\/p>\n The FVGC is represented on the registry in-house by Nielsen, as well as by consultant Carla Ventin of Mile26 Strategy.<\/p>\n Oil Sands Alliance, Pembina Institute among June\u2019s top lobbyists<\/p>\n The most active organization overall in federal lobbying in June was the Oil Sands Alliance Inc. \u2014an industry coalition consisting of the country\u2019s five largest oil sands producers\u2014which filed 33 communication reports for lobbying activity that month.<\/p>\n The Hill Times reached out to Oil Sands Alliance to ask about June advocacy priorities. In response the group\u2019s media team said they\u2019re continuing work to support \u201cCanada\u2019s ambition of becoming a global energy superpower.\u201d<\/p>\n On July 2, Canada and Alberta announced they had concluded a trilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Oil Sands Alliance, comprised of Canada Natural Resources Limited, Suncor Energy Inc., Cenovus Energy Inc., Imperial Oil Limited, and ConocoPhilips Company. The MOU sets out a list of objectives<\/a>, including for expansion and diversification of global market access for Canadian oil, including through the West Coast Oil Pipeline; and supporting the development of \u201cfiscal and regulatory frameworks to enable substantial oil sands development and production growth.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been in ongoing discussions with governments for the last several months surrounding the trilateral MOU which was recently announced. The MOU contemplates regulatory reforms and fiscal measures needed to support oil sands production growth and the Pathways Project,\u201d said the Oil Sands Alliance media team in a July 22 email.<\/p>\n Another major advocacy group in June, based on communication reports filed, was the Pembina Institute, a clean-energy think tank based in Ottawa. The Pembina Institute filed 22 communication reports for lobbying activity in June, including communication with Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin (Toronto\u2014Danforth, Ont.) on June 3, and with Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs Rebecca Chartrand (Churchill\u2014Keewatinook Aski, Man.) on June 4; and with Liberal MPs including Patrick Weiler (West Vancouver\u2014Sunshine Coast\u2014Sea to Sky Country, B.C.) on June 6 and June 11, and with MP Steven Guilbeault (Laurier\u2014Sainte-Marie, Que.) on June 2.<\/p>\n Jessica McIlroy, the Pembina Institute\u2019s director of government relations, told The Hill Times that advocacy priorities in June included discussing the fall federal budget, such as federal programs and funds related to renewable energy.<\/p>\n Pembina is also advocating for Ottawa to show \u201can equal amount of ambition and investment\u201d towards clean energy as has been directed towards the conventional energy sector, said McIlroy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been seeing significant amounts of commitments of potential funds and commitments of actual funds going to the oil sands sector, primarily in Alberta, but also for [liquid natural gas] in B.C., and building out of potential pipelines, and that broad desire to become the conventional energy superpower,\u201d said McIlroy. <\/p>\n \u201cWe want to see the same level of ambition, investment, and commitment to us becoming a clean energy superpower. And so, we\u2019re looking for ways that we can actually get more investment in renewable energy development, inter-ties and electricity grid build out.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe want to see that the vehicle emission standard \u2026 at a level that can actually effectively advance EVs across the country,\u201d McIlroy added.<\/p>\n The Pembina Institute is represented on the registry in-house by executive director Chris Severson-Baker, and by consultant Aaron Freeman of Pivot Strategic Consulting.<\/p>\n jcnockaert@hilltimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n Most Active Lobbying Organizations in June 2026<\/p>\n Organizations Oil Sands Alliance Inc. (formerly Pathways Alliance Inc.) Sacred Waters Development Canadian Produce Marketing Association Cenovus Energy Inc. Pembina Institute General Motors of Canada Company Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada Aboriginal Peoples Television Network Canadian Agri-food Automation and Intelligence Network Canadian Federation of Independent Business Canadian Renewable Energy Association The above table shows the organizations that filed the most communication reports for lobbying activity in June, based on a search of the federal lobbyists\u2019 registry on June 22, 2026.<\/p>\n The Hill Times<\/p>\n \u00a0\n <\/p>\n Jesse Cnockaert began writing for The Hill Times in 2021 following three years as editor of The Lobby Monitor. He still covers federal lobbying, follows key legislation in the House and Senate, and takes the lead on our policy briefings. Cnockaert previously reported for Metro Ottawa, and spent eight years covering news for three different municipal newspapers. He can be reached at jcnockaert@hilltimes.com. See all stories BY JESSE CNOCKAERT<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s strained trade relationship with the United States was among the major advocacy issues at the federal level…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":826830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":["post-826829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=826829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/826830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=826829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=826829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=826829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Erik-Nielsen.t6a6263e7.m800.xKcLeKeMe.jpeg\")
Erik Nielsen, director of government relations with the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada, says in the event border closures or tariffs, \u2018growers cannot simply store products and wait for improved conditions.\u2019 Photograph courtesy of Erik Nielsen<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Jessica-McIlroy.t6a6264a1.m800.x9iEC2GC1.jpg\")
Jessica McIlroy, director of government relations for the the Pembina Institute, says her organizations wants to see the same level of ambition from the federal goverment directed towards clean energy as they see dedicated to conventional energy. Photograph courtesy of the Pembina Institute<\/p>\n
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