Our local MP is concerned about additional Chinese tariffs on canola.
China levied a 75.8% tariff on Canadian canola seed yesterday, which is in addition to 100% tariffs on canola meal and oil.
"I think it's unfortunate to see another layer of tariffs being added on," said Swift Current-Grasslands-Kindersley MP Jeremy Patzer. "The time of year is especially off-putting with harvest having started or being just around the corner.
"I was reading about one particular producer who noted that it was about a $90,000 drop already for him just looking at the price on the global market. So you start to factor that out across all the farms across the southwest. It's a very popular crop to be grown, particularly in the west central regions as well. It's going to be devastating to the southwest for sure."
Patzer hasn't been impressed with the response of the governing Liberals to this and other trade issues the country is facing.
"So far it's been quite disappointing when you look at just trade overall," Patzer said. "It just seems that we're getting hit with more and more tariffs all the time, right? We saw the United States crank up tariffs on a lot of goods, and then we have another addition to the tariffs that are already in place from China's perspective. They said it was in response to a year-long study on dumping of canola, and we have the best canola growing in the world here in Saskatchewan. I think it's quite unfortunate to see them come to that conclusion because we know it's just not based on actual evidence."
The initial tariffs on canola were linked to tariffs Canada put on electric vehicles from China. That's a policy Patzer felt was misguided.
"At the end of the day, let consumers choose what they want to drive," Patzer said. "If they want to drive a Chinese EV, then I mean that's on the consumer. I think that's kind of an ill-thought-out tariff to put on the first place. There's been many other issues in the past where we've seen Canadian farmers take the hit for something that's not even agriculturally related.
"We haven't seen much action from the federal government on dealing with China. Mark Carney said he had good relations with China. We haven't seen him utilize that for the benefit of Canadian farmers."
Patzer noted after all the talk from the Prime Minister about his strength in a crisis and on trade files, he hasn't made enough progress on trade.
"Mark Carney again campaigned on being elbows up with the United States," he added. "Seen quite the opposite from him so far. He bragged about having a close relationship with China, with other countries around the world, and we're just not seeing any benefit from that. In his own words, he's a new government. Well, in your new government, your first 100 days in office are some of the most important days that you'll have. We look at what's been accomplished so far, and it's been next to nothing really."