A lot of people are spending their wealth now just to eat and be housed. The median wealth being higher than the US is a good thing but we need to address the main issues of GDP (income), productivity, and investment in productive capacity. Stop sitting on the fence on pipelines and repealing Trudeau era anti investment laws would be a great start.
1) Sure there is some Trump crap but it is not all Trump crap.
2) Given the Trump crap we need to adapt our plans and deal with the world as it is not the world we want to be.
3) Time to knock off the crappy fence sitting / dance of the seven veils. Get moving damn fast on opening up the spigots for Canadian oil and natural gas. All this hemming and hawing is not preventing a molecule of pollution. If the world is not burning Canadian products they are burning products from other producers that are likely not as clean as Canadian.
The 2008 formula scandal is one of the reasons the plant was built in Canada. Feihe, the parent company, arose as an untainted source of formula after the scandal. The Canadian production has to meet Canadian standards and any shipped to China has to also meet Chinese standards. Probably better enforcement on imported product than domestic enforcement. Quality is the main selling point.
@13Firecracker13@FoodProfessor Well up to you but it sounds like a weird decision. You're not going to find a more Canadian infant formula. The grocery store has a lot of product from with foreign controlled brands. Personally I don't agonize over this fact.
@13Firecracker13@Charle5_chuck@FoodProfessor Was a benefit for Canadian mothers supposed to be part of the deal? If there were other Canadian manufacturers there would be competition but there aren't.
@13Firecracker13@FoodProfessor It's clearly marked as made in Canada. 100% Canadian milk but likely the additives and vitamins are sourced from China. If it was 100% Canadian it would be marked as Produced in Canada.
@Charle5_chuck@FoodProfessor EDC would gladly lend to a Canadian company if they had a market to sell into. This particular effort benefits Canadian farmers and workers. Should we not do it because it also benefits China?
@Charle5_chuck@FoodProfessor It's not a loan from Canadian taxpayers. It is from EDC, a crown corporation, who borrows from capital markets. They make a profit on the difference between the rate they lend at vs the rate they pay and pay dividends from this profit to Canada.
Let's add some information:
- When the deal was made in 2017 there was no baby formula shortage. As you say the plan was always to export the majority of product produced to China.
- Plant capacity is greater than the whole Canadian formula market.
- In 2022 when Abbot shut down it's Michigan formula production Royal Milk could not sell in Canada as it had not yet had Canadian Government approval
- Under supply management, milk prices are set through a regulated pricing process based on production costs, not on short-term bidding wars between processors. A new processor cannot simply bid milk away from existing processors and drive prices sharply higher
- When there is additional demand farmers buy quota and produce to that demand.
- Formula produced is a Canadian export not a Chinese export.
- They are selling domestically and are the only producer in Canada. More options for supply is better for Canada.
- Taxes on the 160 employees, farm profits, and all other economic activity are not peanuts. They are significant.
I don't see a downside to any of this. I'd welcome investments from any country to come in and do the same.