China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Tuesday announced Beijing is launching an anti-dumping investigation into canola oil and other products imported from Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on August 26 said Canada will impose 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and 25% on steel and aluminum products. The ministry said the probe is in accordance with both China’s domestic laws and World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, according to China Daily. The WTO will be consulted in the tariff dispute. China imports more canola oil, or rapeseed, than any other country in the world — and the vast majority is from Canadian farmers. More than half of all canola oil produced in Canada goes to China. The oil is used not just for cooking but can also be made into fuel. More than 207,000 Canadian jobs are related to canola, per the Canola Council of Canada. .China’s investigation into Canadian rapeseed and specific chemical products follows requests from domestic industries, MOFCOM said, adding China will by all means necessary “defend” the rights and interests of its companies. . "China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the discriminatory unilateral restrictive measures taken by Canada against its imports from China despite the opposition and dissuasion of many parties," a MOFCOM spokesperson said, per Reuters. "Canada's canola exports to China have increased significantly and are suspected of dumping, reaching US$3.47 billion in 2023, with a 170% year-on-year increase in volume and a continuous decline in prices.”The Government of Canada defines dumping as the selling of exported goods at prices “lower than the selling price of comparable goods in the country of export” or at “unprofitable prices.”"Affected by the unfair competition of the Canadian side, China's domestic rapeseed-related industries continued to suffer losses,” said MOFCOM.. After the ministry’s announcement, Chinese rapeseed on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange rose 6% to CA$451.79 per metric ton. "The current (edible oil) domestic consumption is not strong, and there is an abundant supply of domestic stocks,” said Ma Wenfeng, senior analyst at Beijing-based agriculture consultancy Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultancy, per Reuters. "Arrivals from Canada have been growing at a fast rate>’China in 2023 imported 5.5 million tons of canola, worth CA$5 billion — 94% of that was from Canada. . MOFCOM posted to its Facebook page a Q&A segment on Trudeau’s announcement on EV tariffs.“Canada disregarded the facts and WTO rules, ignored China's repeated solemn representations and acted unilaterally,” wrote the ministry, adding “Canada persists in its course of action in spite of opposition and dissuasion from different parties.”“China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes this. China has repeatedly stressed that the development of China's EVs and other industries is based on their own comparative advantages and the result of open competition. “The Canadian government claims to support free trade and the multilateral trading system based on WTO rules but has blatantly violated WTO rules, blindly followed certain countries and taken unilateral tariff measures, which is typical trade protectionism.:“Such a move will destabilize global industrial and supply chains, seriously undermine the global economic system and economic and trade rules and severely impact China-Canada economic and trade relations. It will also harm the interests of enterprises in two countries, affect the welfare of Canadian consumers, and undercut Canada's green transition efforts and the global response to climate change.”“We urge Canada to immediately correct its wrong practices. China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.”
