'Very stressful': Southern Alberta farmers say China's tariff on Canadian canola seed creates price uncertainty
While farmers will likely keep their canola longer once it's been harvested, they have bills to pay in the fall, said Hubbard.
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'You end up holding it longer, which increases your storage risk. It increases the risk all around.'
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In a Tuesday statement, Chris Davison, president and CEO of the Canola Council of Canada, said the Chinese market is effectively closed to the Canadian canola industry due to China's preliminary determination of dumping for canola seed, along with the 100-per-cent anti-discrimination tariffs on canola meal and oil already in place.
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The Chinese market is Canada's second largest for canola and canola products, and in 2024, Canada's canola exports to China were valued at $4.9 billion.
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'This tariff will have an immediate and substantive impact on farmers' marketing opportunities for the 2025 canola crop,' said Canadian Canola Growers Association president and CEO Rick White.
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Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation Minister RJ Sigurdson called the decision by China — Alberta's second largest agricultural export market — to impose the new tariff on more Canadian canola products 'another devastating blow' for the province's agriculture industry. Almost 70 per cent of Alberta's canola seed exports head to China.
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'Alberta is once again calling on Ottawa to act swiftly, engage in constructive dialogue with China, and restore access to one of our most critical markets before more livelihoods are lost,' said Sigurdson on Tuesday.
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Two federal cabinet ministers said Tuesday that Canada stands 'shoulder to shoulder' in support of Canada's canola producers, workers and exporters. International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu and Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Heath MacDonald also denied that Canada dumps canola on the Chinese market.
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