Predictable results

And this is what happens when a federal government shows its utter disinterest in protecting its trade interests. Word comes out that the U.S. is backing off its earlier plans to open up the border to some Canadian cattle, with the ever-present support of everybody's favourite group of litigious cattle ranchers:

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is seeking more information about a U.S. Department of Agriculture decision to maintain a ban on imports of older Canadian cattle...

Agency spokesman Alain Charette said it is not clear whether U.S. authorities are cancelling previously announced plans to permit imports of older cattle from Canada, or just postponing them.

It had been expected that U.S. authorities would soon lift the current ban on imports of cattle more than 30 months old...

A U.S. ranchers' group, R-CALF USA is lobbying to have the ban maintained.

Needless to say, R-CALF's position looks a lot stronger now than it would be if Canada's government was willing to push back against U.S. pressure, rather than seeking to bend Canadian industries to the will of the U.S. Any guesses as to how long it'll be before we end up paying R-CALF to dictate the terms of livestock management in Canada?

(Edit: typo.)