Trade War Looming Between Canada And China

The last time China took revenge on Canada, our canola industry suffered between 1.5 and 2.3 billion dollars in sales.

That was the Huawei incident, when a top executive with the Beijing based company was taken into custody at the Vancouver airport at the request of the US government. China quickly retaliated by halting shipments of canola from Canada, claiming some of the shipments contained debris and was contaminated. No proof was ever given and none was offered. The Chinese government knows, when you want to get our government’s attention, go after canola, one of our most lucrative exports to that country.

This week, in clear retaliation for Ottawa’s decision to tack on 100 percent tariffs to any Chinese built electric vehicle coming here, Beijing said it plans to start an anti-dumping investigation into canola imports from Canada. It’s not cutting off trade in the oilseed, at least not yet, perhaps using it as a warning for the Trudeau government to rethink its decision on Chinese EVs.

Chris Davison, the president of the canola council says he’s disappointed with the decision by China, but understands the process will have to play out. “Job one has to be about maintaining or restoring open, predictable market access for canola. That’s our priority everyday and it takes on even more importance in situations like this. We’re going to focus on that, we’re going to engage with the federal government and others, and we are going to provide support for the investigation and any other activity that is going to be useful to maintain that open, predictable market access for canola.”

Canada’s food professor, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois tweeted this morning, the government’s strategy in this is supporting Canadian made EVs is more important than allowing cheaper Chinese models into the market, even at the expense of Canadian farmers.