Saskatchewan farmers are demanding action by the provincial and federal governments to deal with the looming trade war with both the United States and China.
On March 8, the Chinese government announced 100 per cent tariffs on Canadian canola, rapeseed oil, rapeseed meal and pea products, along with a 25 per cent tariff on pork and seafood imports.
This was in response to the Canadian government’s decision to impose duties on Chinese-made electric vehicles and steel and aluminum products in October.
Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) says producers are struggling with the uncertainty of these tariffs and the potential tariffs from the United States that could threaten their livelihoods.
Bill Prybylski, APAS president, says producers have had enough stress from the rail and port strikes.
“From our perspective, this is just kind of compounding a whole string of events and news that’s been not good news for producers,” said Prybylski.
Gunter Jochum, president of the Wheat Growers of Canada says these tariffs hit hard and he feels the government is not taking action.
“(It’s) really been a blow. China is one of our biggest customers besides the U.S. And so, we are really hit from both sides,” said Jochum.
“How the heck do we deal with this? And the government has completely dropped (the) ball on dealing with this. They’re awfully quiet about it. Nobody is saying anything.”
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Prybylski echoes his sentiment and asks the government to do all they can to resolve this quickly.
“If we (farmers) knew what we were dealing with, we could deal with it. But right now, we just don’t know,” said Prybylski.
“I doubt that there’s any one single bullet that’s going to fix all our problems, obviously. But we just hope that our governments at both levels are doing whatever they can to alleviate the situation and find a quick resolution to the these problems.”
Jochum says we need to remove the tariffs all together.
“Tariffs are a bad thing,” said Jochum. “And retaliatory tariffs are even worse because it just escalates a trade war.”
“It’s important for us to do away with tariffs and not get into a trade war that we cannot win.”
The Wheat Growers of Canada are demanding the federal government:
- Provide financial compensation equal to the losses incurred;
- Bring an end to interprovincial trade barriers so Canadian producers can operate freely and competitively within their own country;
- Invest in critical infrastructure to ensure agricultural exports move efficiently to global markets;
- Leverage trade agreements that diversify Canada’s markets and build credibility with global partners;
- Commit to a regulatory reform to attract investment, build confidence, and ensure a predictable, science-based trade policy.
The organization added it is calling on the government to “take immediate and decisive action before this crisis spirals further out of control.”
To help ease some of the producers’ uncertainty and provide them with a chance to ask questions APAS is hosting a summit on March 27 in Saskatoon. The summit says it will be tackling the pressing issues of trade among other critical concerns facing the agriculture sector.
Registration is open to all Saskatchewan farmers at no cost.
Prybylski reminds producers to “just be patient (and) don’t panic.”
The Government of Saskatchewan said in a statement to Global News that it’s concerned to learn about the tariffs imposed by the Chinese government.
“Saskatchewan’s agriculture industry is being disproportionately affected … Saskatchewan accounts for 50 per cent of Canada’s global canola oil exports, 41 per cent of its canola meal exports and 51 per cent of its dry pea exports,” the government added.
The provincial government said it has reached out to the federal government to engage with China to come to a swift resolution.
“The Government of Saskatchewan is actively engaged with industry, other provinces, and the federal government to fully understand the impact of these actions by the Chinese government. Our primary focus is to advocate for a quick resolution in the best interests of our producers and consumers.”
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