Inminable Chinese retaliation rates in some Canola products have led Manitoba farmers and industry members to criticize the Canadian government for not doing enough to protect farmers from financial damage and make peace with China.
Jason Johnston, who operates a grain farm in Darlingford, Man., About 117 kilometers southwest of Winnipeg, said that provincial and federal politicians have not recognized the impacts faced by farmers since the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that it will impose 100 percent rates in 100 % of the canola’s rates and the petroleum flour from Thursday.
“In the week since this announcement has been made, Canola has dropped $ 2 by Bushel, so that in my farm that would mean approximately a loss of $ 80,000 every year,” said Johnston, adding that he cultivates approximately 1,000 canola acres in crop rotation every year.
“We are definitely in the red canola at these prices.”
Imminent tariffs are in retaliation at 100 percent Canada rates in Chinese electric vehicles and a 25 percent tax in Chinese aluminum and steel products imposed on October 1. Canada followed the leadership of the United States and the European Union that initially applied import levies in Chinese electric vehicles.
Johnston wonders if Canola farmers will be compensated for their losses and urges Canadian politicians, who have been “completely silent” on the subject, to lift tariffs on electric vehicles made by the Chinese with the hope that China revokes their tariff threats.
“We are price makers, we have no voice in this at all … and Canadian farmers need to know what will happen,” he said during an interview in CBC’s Information radio Mondays.
Canola is the second largest surface harvest in Canada with more than 21 million acres produced annually, according to a federal press release. Canola food exports to China represented $ 920.9 million of Canada’s economy in 2024, while Canola oil exports to China represented around $ 21 million.
Although farmers are looking for other options for crops to grow on their farms, flooding these alternative agricultural markets also offers a risk, he said.
The Federal Government has implemented some tariff support measures for Canadian companies and workers, including $ 1 billion in new financing through Farm Credit Canada to reduce financial barriers for the Canadian agricultural and food industry, but Johnston says that these are loans and not financial help.
China is the second largest commercial partner in Canada, after the United States, which has imposed 25 percent tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. The president of the United States, Trump, has stopped some tariffs imposed on Canadian goods, including Canola products, until April 2.
Johnston asks why Prime Minister Mark Carney, who swore on Friday after previous leader Justin Trudeau resigned, is not increasing the country’s business relations with China if the United States is no longer a favorable commercial partner.
Former Federal Government’s former Minister of International Government, Mary NG and Lawrence Macaulay, former Federal Minister of Agriculture, said Canada “is still open to participating in a constructive dialogue with Chinese officials” to address their commercial concerns, according to a press release on March 8.
Johnston criticized how Carney promised to support workers in the Canadian steel and aluminum industry on Wednesday after the impacts of US tariffs, but has not yet committed to support farmers affected by tariffs on canola. Carney is also doubling her associations with France and the United Kingdom as Trump continues to attack the future of Sovereignty and the economy of Canada.
Listening | Manitoba farmer asks the federal government to take measures on retaliation rates:
Information Radio – MB8:51The impact of China’s rates on Manitoba Canola farmers
Jason Johnson, a Canola farmer from Darlingford, talks to Marguxx Watt about his growing concerns about the next 100% reprisal rate of China about the Canadian canola. With the approach often in American tariffs, Johnson argues that it is time to pay attention to the impact that these tariffs could have on the farmers of Canola de Manitoba and their livelihoods.
The deputy of the Winnipeg South Center, Ben Carr, said that China’s tariffs on Canola are “unjustified and unjustified.” Government officials are working to ensure that support is in their place for Manitoba farmers, he said in a statement sent by email on Monday.
Andre Harpe, president of the Canola Producers Canadian Association, said he has spoken with Kody Blois, the new Federal Cabinet Minister for Agriculture and Agricultural Food, who seems to be listening to the concerns of the industry.
“We are beginning to see the recognition that this is a serious problem,” said Harpe, who is based in Grande Prairie, Alta.
The possible tariffs of the United States and China will simultaneously leave Canada with “without breathing space”, which would be “absolutely devastating,” he said. The industry has already seen some grain companies stopping the purchase of Canola, said Harpe.
“The federal government has to obtain at least one of these rates, if not the two rates, eliminated.”
This week, China will impose a 100 percent rate on canola in retaliation so that the Canadian government that puts a rate of Chinese electric vehicles. Jason Johnson is a grain farm south of Morden, man. He says that the federal government has shown support to the steel industry against US tariffs, but nothing for farmers.
