China imposes preliminary duty on Canadian canola

China has announced a preliminary duty on Canadian canola to the tune of 75.8 per cent beginning on Thursday.

It’s in response to an anti-dumping investigation launched last year on Canada’s tax on Chinese electric vehicles. The move comes nearly a year after Canada imposed a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, a move that is to be reviewed by the beginning of October.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a social media post today that the two countries met four days ago to discuss trade.

Sask OilSeeds Policy Manager Dale Leftwich said the new tariff will have immediate effect on the industry.

“It’s so large that it’s hard to see how any canola would be going into China. It looks like one of the biggest markets that we have has been effectively shut down,” Leftwich said. “Farmers are trying to make plans for the fall. It’s affecting crushers, it’s affecting exporters, farmers are trying to figure out if they have to store canola for longer periods of time.”

Leftwich said the impact will be felt well beyond the farm gate.

“Devastating to the farmer, devastating to the the person that he’s buying supplies from, devastating to all of the small towns,” he said.

Leftwich warns the numbers could add up to billions in lost value and he would like to see Ottawa step in before farmers face serious losses.