Saskatchewan farmers brace as China imposes tariffs on crops

Jeffery Tram · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 09, 2025 5:41 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Saskatchewan farmers are feeling the value of an escalating planetary commercialized warfare aft China announced retaliatory tariffs connected Canadian canola oil, peas and lipid cakes.

The determination follows the national government's determination connected Oct. 1 to enforce 100 per cent tariffs connected Chinese electrical vehicles and a 25 per cent levy connected its aluminum and alloy products. 

Bill Prybylski, president of the Agriculture Producers Association of Saskatchewan, says producers saw this coming.

"We're not surprised," Prybylski said. "Ever since the national authorities announced tariffs connected Chinese electrical vehicles, it was highly anticipated that the Chinese authorities would retaliate successful immoderate manner."

Sylvain Charlebois, manager of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab astatine Dalhousie University, says China's determination is portion of a strategical geopolitical move. 

"China has a past of utilizing tariffs arsenic a governmental tool," Charlebois said. "This isn't conscionable astir commercialized — it's astir exerting unit connected Canada."

Prybylski says canola is simply a cornerstone of Saskatchewan's economy, with astir 20 cardinal acres seeded annually. 

Lee Moats, a Saskatchewan husbandman and erstwhile committee subordinate of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, says the tariffs are going to wounded farmers successful occidental Canada.

"Canola and peas are 2 precise important markets for occidental Canadian farmers," Moats said. "In a satellite of uncertainty, this conscionable adds a caller and disturbing level of uncertainty for us."

Prybylski says China and the United States are the province's biggest export markets, meaning immoderate disruption successful commercialized has superior fiscal consequences for producers.

"Anytime there's a tariff similar this, it's going to impact prices," Prybylski explained.

"When determination was speech of tariffs going into the United States, our canola prices took a crisp drop. They've since recovered somewhat, but present they're connected a diminution again. This is conscionable going to exacerbate the situation."

Moats agrees.

"If we're unopen retired of these marketplaces, that would person a precise important and possibly catastrophic interaction connected our canola industry," helium said.

Moats says farmers similar himself person nary prime but to determination guardant successful this caller marketplace reality.

"We person nary mode of impacting what the governments of the U.S. oregon China do. We're conscionable having to adapt. This volition beryllium a trial of whether we person the resilience and fiscal readying to tolerate a daze to our marketplace."