Harvest Season Gut Punch: Prairie Farmers Hit by China’s 75% Canola Tariff

As Prairie farmers prepare their combines for canola harvest, Ottawa’s trade missteps have once again left Western Canada in the crosshairs. Today, China announced a provisional 75.8% anti-dumping duty on Canadian canola imports, effective August 14, effectively slamming shut one of our most critical export markets and escalating an already damaging trade dispute.

“This is more than just bad timing, it’s a complete blindside in the middle of harvest,” said Gunter Jochum, President of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association. “For Western Canadian farmers, canola is our flagship crop. Losing China at this moment is like pulling the rug out from under us when we’re already running full tilt.”

The move builds on China’s earlier retaliation in March, when it imposed 100% tariffs on Canadian canola oil and meal, alongside punitive measures on pork, seafood, and peas, in response to Ottawa’s 2024 tariffs on Chinese EVs, steel, and aluminum. Together, these measures threaten up to $2.35 billion in canola industry losses, eerily similar to the damage from the 2019–2020 China canola dispute.

A Pattern of Sacrificing the West

“This trend is happening far too often where Prairie farmers have been collateral damage in Ottawa’s trade fights,” Jochum added. “The government can’t keep pitting Eastern manufacturing and ill-conceived EV interests against Western agriculture and expect us to just absorb the hit. We need a national trade strategy that defends all sectors equally, not one that uses us as a bargaining chip.”

The Wheat Growers are calling for:

• Immediate, high-level engagement with Beijing to suspend or roll back the provisional duties.
• Appointment of a dedicated agricultural trade envoy to prevent farm products from being targeted in political disputes.
• A renewed commitment to diversifying export markets to reduce dependency on single-country buyers.