Canadian yellow pea producers will now face tariffs in both of their major export markets after India announced a new 30 per cent levy on all imported yellow peas beginning Nov. 1.
A a government notification issued late on Wednesday said shipments with a bill of lading dated on or before Oct. 31, 2025, will be exempt from the duty, the order said.
The government had earlier allowed duty-free imports of yellow peas until March 31, 2026, but domestic farmers had urged authorities to curb the influx of cheap imports that were pressuring local prices.
The South Asian nation is the world’s biggest importer of yellow peas, which it imports mainly from Canada and Russia.
In a letter to federal ministers of agriculture and international trade Thursday, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Minister Daryl Harrison said Ottawa needs to immediately negotiate with India, saying the new tariffs add additional strain in addition to Chinese tariffs.
China imposed a 100 per cent tariff on Canadian yellow peas in March, followed by new tariffs on Canada’s canola imports. It was seen as an act of retaliation for Canada’s introduction of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
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“India is an incredibly important market for Saskatchewan with $480 million of pea exports being shipped into India in 2024. Now, more than ever, Saskatchewan’s and Canada’s producers and exporters need certainty,” Harrison wrote.
“These trade disruptions impact the entire supply chain and are having immediate consequences for producers, businesses, and jobs. We need to get back to tariff free trade.”
Greg Cherewyk is the president of Pulse Canada, the national association representing growers and processors of peas, beans, and lentils.
He said he saw the tariff coming but didn’t expect it to land so soon.
“We had been hearing about the potential for a tariff since the early part of September, which is not unusual in India,” said Cherewyk.
Cherewyk said that, unlike China’s retaliatory tariffs, this tariff is aimed solely at India’s domestic interests.
The tariff statement from India says it is being imposed to curb cheaper imports of yellow peas to support domestic farmers.
Cherewyk said the tariff has major implications for pea farmers across Canada.
Cherewyk also said that losing access to those lucrative markets in India and China removes an outlet for millions of tonnes of peas.
He said that while processing capacity for peas has been expanding in Canada, allowing growers to sell their crops to the pet food and livestock feed industries, those markets can’t replace India and China.
“It’s important to note we’re working, it’s incremental, the growth is there, but it isn’t going to replace those markets overnight and it should never be looked at as an either-or,” he said.
– With files from Global’s Ari Rabinovitch and Sean Boynton, and the Canadian Press
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