Beijing Imposes Provisional Anti-Dumping Tariff on Canadian Canola

China on Tuesday announced a preliminary anti-dumping duty on Canadian canola imports, a fresh escalation in a year-long trade dispute that began with Ottawa’s imposition of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports last August.

 

The provisional rate will be set at 75.8 per cent, effective from Thursday, the statement said.

 

China, the world’s largest importer of canola – also known as rapeseed – sources nearly all of its supplies of the product from Canada.

 

“This is huge. Who will pay a 75 per cent deposit to bring Canadian canola to China? It is like telling Canada that we don’t need your canola, thank you very much,” said one Singapore-based oilseed trader.

 

China’s most active Zhengzhou rapeseed meal futures CRSMCV1 slid three per cent, the biggest daily drop since June 26.

The policy marks a shift from the conciliatory tone struck in June when China’s Premier Li Qiang said there were no deep-seated conflicts of interest between the countries during a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

 

The Canadian embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

 

“This move… will put additional pressure on Canada’s government to sort through trade frictions with China,” said Trivium China agriculture analyst Even Rogers Pay.

 

It also provides an opportunity for Australia, Pay added, which looks set to regain access to the Chinese market with a few test cargoes this year after a years-long freeze in the trade.

 

Canadian canola exports to China totalled $5.0 billion (US$3.63 billion) in 2023, the last full year before the investigation began.

 

Separately, China also launched an anti-dumping investigation into pea starch imported from Canada, which will last a year and could be extended for six months, it said in a statement.

 

 

 

 

 

By Ella Cao, Lewis Jackson and Naveen Thukral

(Reporting by Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson in Beijing, Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Bernadette Baum and Jan Harvey)

 

 

 

 

This article was first reported by Reuters