Mr. Solverson is the president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association.  Today's quote is part of his reaction to a ceremony Monday in Ottawa.  There, on Parliament Hill, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Park Geun-hye of South Korea signed the text of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA).  Ms. Park, the daughter of former Korean president Park Chung-hee, is the first woman to lead her country.  The new trade deal was signed on the first-day of her state visit to Canada.  

We are not sure just when the new agreement will go into effect.  There are domestic procedures that have to be gone through in both countries.  But we doubt anyone will have to wait long.

Today's quote is from a press release put out Monday by the Canadian Cattlemen's Association. Its focus is on what the agreement will mean for Canada's cattlemen, but the sentiment it expresses is shared by Canadian exporters in many sectors.  Here is some more from that release:

 The FTA with Korea is Canada's first free-trade agreement in Asia.  It is not likely to be the last.  Several more could, of course, come into effect as a consequence of TPP, the Trans Pacific Partnership, if Canada, the U.S., and the other ten TPP countries can come to deal in that ambitious project.  And there  are still other negotiations in progress as well, including negotiations for an FTA between Canada and Japan. 

More to the point, Canada clearly prides itself on its ambitious trade agenda.  In the words of one official Canadian document: "In less than seven years, Canada has concluded free trade agreements with 38 countries and is negotiating with many more." 

And Canadian negotiators have been active on the investment front as well.  The Korea FTA includes investment provisions, and the newly ratified Foreign Investment Protection Agreement (FIPA) with China enters into force a week from today, on October 1.  That's a different agreement with a different set of issues, and later we'll give them both - the agreement and the issues - their own entry.

We are not sure but but we suspect that 28 of those 38 countries mentioned above are members of the European Union.  So, in a sense, the number may be a little inflated.  It is still impressive.  And, while the political issues surrounding the FTA with Korea are different from those associated with the investment agreement with China, both suggest that, where trade and investment are concerned, Canada's foreign policy is characterized by a rather holistic dynamism. 

Finally, U.S. ranchers will, obviously, have a different view of this new Korean FTA than the one expressed by their rivals to the north.  That, among other things, is a reminder that the whole notion of preference erosion isn't just a concern for LDCs and GSP beneficiaries (pardon the anachronism).  It's a concern for everyone with a preference, including the preferences in free trade agreements.  The difference is that those in developed countries who lose preferences understand that they cannot hold back the tide of more open trade.  They have to find other ways to compete.