Canadian canola farmers are warning that losses from China’s punishing tariffs could hit $2 billion by the end of the year, and are urging Ottawa to be ready with compensation if the dispute drags on past Christmas.Blacklock's Reporter says Rick White, CEO of the Canadian Canola Growers Association, told MPs on the Commons agriculture committee that producers have already been hammered with $1.6 billion in lost sales. “The longer this goes on, the worse it will get,” White testified, stressing that canola is the largest contributor to farm cash receipts for about 40,000 growers.China’s Ministry of Commerce slapped 75.8% tariffs on Canadian canola exports August 14, on top of an earlier 100% tariff on canola oil and meal. The shutdown locks out an estimated 5.9 million tonnes of demand in what was Canada’s second-largest export market and top seed buyer..“If the market cannot be reopened in the very near term, government needs to be prepared to compensate canola farmers in a manner that is commensurate with the losses,” White said. He pressed Ottawa to focus on negotiations: “Get the market in China reopened again. That’s what we need.”Canadian canola exports to China were valued at $4.9 billion last year, with the U.S. and China accounting for 87% of the sector’s total export value in 2024. White said there is a narrow window to resolve the dispute before farm finances collapse. “Maybe by Christmas. After that it is going to be more and more difficult.”.The tariffs are part of a tit-for-tat trade war.Ottawa had earlier slapped 25% duties on Chinese steel and aluminum and a 100% tariff on electric vehicles.On August 13, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne extended the measures to cover Chinese steel transshipped through third countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.His department said the objective was to respond to Chinese “acts, policies and practices” deemed contrary to Canadian values.
