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Comment by angott | Hacker News Reader

It's not just telecommunications and air transport. Everywhere you look, you'll find sectors where foreign competition is prohibited or strictly managed in a way that keeps prices artificially high.

An example? Cheese. Under CETA (the Canada-EU free trade agreement), only Canadian dairy producers can import cheese from the EU into Canada. These producers will set its price artificially high as to match the price of Canadian cheese plus a premium. This way, they ensure consumers will buy Canadian cheese instead, as it appears to be cheaper.

It's just crazy how much lobbying can do.

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> An example? Cheese.

I'm actually one of the people who don't have much of a problem with Canada's dairy (and poultry) regime, with its supply-side management:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_management_(Canada)

The fact of the matter is that just about everyone (US, EU) subsidies their farmers from general tax revenue. The US supposedly gives as much in subsidies as the entire Canadian market.

If Canada were to open its market to foreign product, Canadian farmers would probably be wiped out because of cheaper imports. So if Canada would want a domestic industry, they too would also have do subsidize their own farmers--and that would be done from general tax receipts.

So the taxes of someone who is lactose intolerant would be going to help produce milk. Someone who is vegan / vegetarian would be helping to grow chickens.

With the current system, the only people paying more are the folks who actually by the product(s).

I have no love for telus, bell, or Rogers.

Should Canadians pay a bit of a premium to be able to supply some of the things that we depend on to live ourselves, in our own way, on our own terms? For food I think yes. I am happy to know that the milk and cheese I consume did not come from American mega farms with all their problems.

Instead of trade barriers exclusively based on place of origin, you could have food safety rules that enforce animal welfare standards before the product can be sold in Canada. The U.S. also produces higher quality hormone-free milk just as good as the Canadian one, but the artificial trade barriers put in place by Canada make it almost impossible for foreign producers to sell it here, regardless of its quality. It leads to higher prices for final consumers, and at the end of the day only benefits the local dairy industry and the few families behind it.

> ... The U.S. also produces higher quality hormone-free milk just as good as the Canadian one ...

Sure, but how much is this subsidized from general US tax revenues?

Interesting. What would stop someone else setting up a new dairy producer and import it without applying the crazy markup you mention?

You need to be part of the supply management scheme, that is, you need to be producing and supplying milk in Canada. So an import-only business wouldn't be able to do it. I am not too sure on the details, but you can read more about it here: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-comme...

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