Chinese tariffs on canola hot topic for Canada’s agriculture ministers

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/09/2025 (326 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Red tape reviews, tariffs and extreme drought demanded the attention of Canada’s agriculture ministers as they convened in Manitoba.

So, too, did the concerns of tariff-hit canola farmers and industry leads.

And while Ottawa’s agriculture minister didn’t say the feds would remove a tariff on Chinese electric vehicles — thought to be the instigator of China’s sky-high duties on Canadian canola — he didn’t take it off the table.

“We haven’t been told exactly what China wants,” Heath MacDonald said. “That’s certainly something that we’re looking at.”

Officials would need to determine the impact on other sectors, he added.

MacDonald spoke Tuesday in Winnipeg, flanked by provincial agriculture ministers. It marked the final day of a three-day annual conference.

On Sunday, MacDonald toured a farm in Randolph with canola industry leads.

“We had … a very good conversation,” said Rick White, president of the Canadian Canola Growers Association.

White was among the farm tour attendees. The excursion came two days after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced new measures for canola producers.

The measures don’t go far enough, White said. Ottawa has outlined a biofuel production incentive and an increase to its cash advance program for canola farmers.

China placed a 75.8 per cent duty on Canadian canola seed imports last month. It follows tariffs of 100 per cent on Canadian canola oil, canola meal and peas, and of 25 per cent on some pork, fish and seafood.

Canola seed was Manitoba’s largest export to China last year, drawing $649 million.

“What farmers need is to be compensated,” White asserted.

The financial hit to farmers likely won’t be known until early next year. The feds should prepare for a one-time payment to producers instead of relying on loans, White said.

Delaney Ross Burtnack, executive director of the Manitoba Canola Growers, echoed White’s request. Meetings with the federal and Manitoba agriculture ministers this week gave her “some hope” further compensation may come, she wrote in an email Tuesday.

“There’s lots more to do,” MacDonald said, adding more funding could come.

Meantime, a Canadian delegation — including Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe — is in China to discuss tariffs.

Tariffs were a major topic among ministers, MacDonald said. Extreme drought, wildfires, business risk management programs and diversifying markets were also highlighted during the agriculture ministers’ conference. The event began Sunday and ended Tuesday.

Ministers heard from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The agency addressed about 20 regulations that are moving ahead “relatively quickly” in a red tape review, MacDonald said.

“It’s given us an opportunity — with everything that we’re going through here — to be more direct, and more precise, and (to) use speed and agility to make some of those decisions,” he said.

Elected officials are taking a ‘Team Canada’ approach, said Ron Kostyshyn, Manitoba’s agriculture minister.

“We are — all ministers — very sincere of making agriculture what it should be,” said Kostyshyn, who farmed for 40 years.

Carney’s announcement on Sept. 5 included $370 million for biofuel producers.

Azure Sustainable Fuels seeks to convert feedstock products like canola into airplane fuel; it’s eyed a site in Portage la Prairie. Company president Stuart Roberts said he was “encouraged” by last week’s announcement.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com