Canadian farmers reel as China blocks top canola seed market
China hit Canadian canola seed imports with preliminary 75.8% duties on Tuesday following an anti-dumping investigation, escalating a year-long trade dispute. Grain buyers reacted by yanking their bids to buy crops in the next few months, said Dale Leftwich, the policy manager for SaskOilseeds.
"It throws everything into confusion," said Leftwich, whose organization represents oilseed growers in Saskatchewan.
"It's a huge hit."
China is by far Canada's biggest canola seed market and will not be easy to replace, canola trade experts told Reuters. Canada exported almost C$5 billion ($3.63 billion) of canola products to China in 2024, about 80% of which was seed, and the steep duties would likely all but end those Chinese imports if they are maintained.
Futures prices fell as much as 6.5% on Tuesday, hitting a four-month low at one point, and some traders said prices could fall further if the Chinese tariffs linger.
China did not say on Tuesday how long the duties would last. A permanent decision on tariffs was expected for September but the preliminary duty had some wondering whether the timeline might be extended.
Farmers sell their crops to local grain elevator companies who temporarily store the grain, before loading it onto trains and then ships for export to overseas markets like China.
Grain elevator companies are worried they will not be able to ship out canola seed that they buy from farmers, so are unlikely to buy more until they have a clear sense of what will happen, traders said.
Farmers are wondering how they are going to pay the bank and cover bills, said Saskatchewan farmer Chris Procyk, who was having an early morning coffee with his wife when he received a flood of texts and emails about the Chinese trade action.
With the Canadian canola crop maturing and within days or a few weeks of harvest, selling the crop quickly is vital for farmers who need to cover bills for expensive inputs like fertilizer that they bought on credit.
"This is the worst possible time," Procyk said.
($1 = 1.3778 Canadian dollars)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
8 hours ago
- Reuters
Report: Bengals entertaining trade offers for Trey Hendrickson
August 17 - The Cincinnati Bengals are listening to trade offers involving four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Trey Hendrickson amid an ongoing contract dispute, NFL Network reported on Sunday. Hendrickson, who is slated to make $15.8 million in base salary in 2025, has been seeking a new deal all offseason. In mid-May, the star pass rusher told reporters he wouldn't play this season unless he received a bump in pay. Hendrickson, 30, led the NFL in sacks last season with 17.5. He has 35 over the past two seasons and 57 in four seasons with the Bengals. Hendrickson apparently craves an increase in pay that will place him in the higher echelon of defensive players. Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt just landed the highest annual average salary ($41 million) in history for a defensive player. Over the offseason, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett ($40 million AAV) and Los Angeles Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby ($35.5 million) also landed huge deals. Hendrickson has been a Pro Bowl selection in all four of his seasons with Cincinnati. He played his first four seasons with the New Orleans Saints, serving as a backup for the first three campaigns. Hendrickson has 77 sacks, 220 tackles and 14 forced fumbles in 110 games (81 starts). --Field Level Media
BreakingNews.ie
9 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Air Canada suspends restart plans after union defies return-to-work order
Air Canada said it suspended plans to restart operations on Sunday after the union representing 10,000 flight attendants said it would defy a return-to-work order. The Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered airline staff back to work by 2pm on Sunday after the government intervened and Air Canada said it planned to resume flights Sunday evening. Advertisement Canada's largest airline now says it will resume flights Monday evening. Air Canada said in a statement that the union 'illegally directed its flight attendant members to defy a direction from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board'. People wait outside an Air Canada check-in at Vancouver International Airport (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP) 'Our members are not going back to work,' Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) national president Mark Hancock said earlier on Sunday outside Toronto's Pearson International Airport. 'We are saying no.' Advertisement The federal government did not immediately provide comment on the union refusing to return to work. Mr Hancock said the 'whole process has been unfair' and said the union would challenge what it called an unconstitutional order. 'Air Canada has really refused to bargain with us and they refused to bargain with us because they knew this government would come in on their white horse and try and save the day,' he said. A man tries to check in to his Air Canada flight at Vancouver International Airport (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP) The federal government did not immediately provide comment on the union refusing to return to work. Advertisement The country's largest airline had said early on Sunday in a release that the first flights would resume later in the day but that it would take several days before its operations returned to normal. It said some flights would be cancelled over the next seven to 10 days until the schedule was stabilised. Less than 12 hours after workers walked off the job, federal jobs minister Patty Hajdu ordered the 10,000 flight attendants back to work, saying now was not the time to take risks with the economy and noting the unprecedented tariffs the US had imposed on Canada. Ms Hajdu referred the work stoppage to the Canada Industrial Relations Board. Advertisement People sleep under a flight information board at Vancouver International Airport (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP) The airline said the Canada Industrial Relations Board had extended the term of the existing collective agreement until a new one was determined by the arbitrator. The shutdown of Canada's largest airline early on Saturday was impacting about 130,000 people a day. Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day. According to numbers from aviation analytics provider Cirium, Air Canada cancelled a total of 494 flights on Sunday morning. This was in addition to the hundreds of flights it cancelled in the previous days. Advertisement The bitter contract fight escalated on Friday as the union turned down Air Canada's prior request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which allows a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract. Air Canada Suspends Plans to Restart Operations after CUPE Defies CIRB Directive to Return to Work: — Air Canada (@AirCanada) August 17, 2025 Flight attendants walked off the job around 1am Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday. Around the same time, Air Canada said it would begin locking flight attendants out of airports. Ms Hajdu said that her Liberal government was not anti-union, saying it was clear the two sides were at an impasse. Passengers whose flights were impacted would be eligible to request a full refund on the airline's website or mobile app, according to Air Canada. The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible. Still, it warned that it could not guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines were already full 'due to the summer travel peak'. An Air Canada agent, left, speaks to a man at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP) Air Canada and CUPE have been in contract talks for about eight months, but they have yet to reach a tentative deal. Both sides have said they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes are not in the air. The airline's latest offer included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions, over four years, that it said 'would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada'. But the union pushed back, saying the proposed 8% raise in the first year did not go far enough because of inflation.
Reuters
9 hours ago
- Reuters
Air Canada flight attendants continue strike despite order to return, airline delays restart
MONTREAL Aug 17 (Reuters) - Air Canada ( opens new tab flight attendants remained on strike on Sunday past the deadline in a government-backed labor board's order to return to work, causing the country's biggest airline to delay restarting operations. The Canadian Union of Public Employees said in a statement that members would remain on strike and invited Air Canada back to the table to "negotiate a fair deal," calling the order to end its strike unconstitutional. The airline said it would delay plans to restart operations from Sunday until Monday evening. On Saturday, Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal government moved to end the strike by more than 10,000 flight attendants by asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order binding arbitration. The CIRB issued the order, which Air Canada had sought, and unionized flight attendants opposed. The Canada Labour Code gives the government the power to ask the CIRB to impose binding arbitration in the interest of protecting the economy. The government's options to end the strike now include asking courts to enforce the order to return to work and seeking an expedited hearing. The minority government could also try to pass legislation that would need the support of political rivals and approval in both houses of parliament, which is on break until September 15. The government did not respond to requests for comment. "The federal government has entrusted a board to administer these rules in the Canadian Labor Code, and if you defy them, you are transgressing and essentially violating the law," said Rafael Gomez, a professor of employment relations at the University of Toronto. The government, under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, intervened last year to head off rail and dock strikes that threatened to cripple the economy, but it is unusual for a union to defy a CIRB order. Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job on Saturday for the first time since 1985, after months of negotiations over a new contract. Air Canada had said it planned to resume flights on Sunday evening, following the expected end of the strike that caused the suspension of around 700 daily flights on Saturday, stranding more than 100,000 passengers. The union called a decision by the CIRB chair Maryse Tremblay to not recuse herself from handling the case a "staggering conflict of interest," since she had worked as a senior counsel for Air Canada in the past. According to Tremblay's LinkedIn profile, she served as Air Canada's counsel from 1998 to 2004. The CIRB did not respond to a request for comment. Other unions joined the flight attendants' picket line in solidarity in Toronto on Sunday. "They are in support here today because they are seeing our rights being eroded," said Natasha Stea, an Air Canada flight attendant and local union president. Air Canada had started cancelling flights on Thursday in anticipation of the stoppage. Travelers at Toronto Pearson International Airport said they were confused about whether their flights would resume or Air Canada would make alternative arrangements. "We are kind of left to figure it out for ourselves and fend for ourselves with no recourse or options provided by Air Canada at this time," said Elizabeth Fourney of Vancouver. The most contentious issue has been the union's demand for compensation for time spent on the ground between flights and when helping passengers board. Attendants are largely paid only when their plane is moving. CUPE had pushed for a negotiated solution, saying binding arbitration would take pressure off the airline. Air Canada said on Sunday that the CIRB had ordered the terms of the collective agreement between the union and the airline that expired on March 31 be extended until a new agreement can be reached.
