Sask. Premier Moe to Travel to China to Discuss Canola Tariffs

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Aug 22, 2025 - 09:59 Updated: Aug 22, 2025 - 09:55
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Sask. Premier Moe to Travel to China to Discuss Canola Tariffs
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Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he will visit China in the coming weeks alongside federal officials to advocate for a resolution to the ongoing canola trade dispute and to explore opportunities for expanding trade relations with the country.

The premier made the comments on Aug. 21, following a meeting with provincial and federal ministers, the prime minister’s parliamentary secretary, and industry representatives to discuss Canada’s response to the latest Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola. He said they agreed on the need to engage with China to ease the tariff tensions, and that if the tariffs continue, there should be support for the agricultural sector.
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“Myself will be in China in the next couple of weeks, with potentially another opportunity for engagement before the end of the calendar year, to work alongside our federal government to ensure that we are advocating and advancing ... [a] resolution to this trade challenge,” Moe told reporters during a press conference in Saskatoon.
China last week imposed 75.8 percent temporary tariffs on Canadian canola, saying the measures stemmed from an anti-dumping investigation the regime launched last year. The latest tariffs came weeks after Canada announced additional levies on steel originating from China, and added to tariffs the regime imposed earlier this year on Canadian canola related-products and other agricultural items.
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Ottawa has rejected the findings of China’s anti-dumping investigation, saying that Canadian producers don’t dump canola.
Canadian canola is primarily grown in the Prairie provinces, with China being the second largest market for that product after the United States. Total exports of canola products to China last year were valued at nearly $5 billion.

Market Diversification

During the Aug. 21 press conference, Carney’s parliamentary secretary Kody Blois said the government was also looking into ways to broaden canola export markets.

“We could name a whole host of countries that both have an opportunity to take more Canadian canola, or have traditionally taken more Canadian canola and are not available to the market right now,” he said.

But on diversification of canola exports, Moe said that while his province has worked to diversify its exports, replacing the Chinese market could be difficult.

“It is going to be very challenging, if not impossible, for us to find another market with the single volume that China may take,” Moe said.

“This is an important market for us, as is the United States of America when it comes to canola exports. We need them both, and that is what we are going to do our level best to retain.”

Blois said that replacing the Chinese market may be difficult, but said the government will continue efforts to diversify exports while also engaging with China to restore market access.

“One marketplace in terms of trade diversification or multiple may not replace one Chinese market,” he said. “But if you do that work, multiplied over many different jurisdictions ... there’s an ability to try to help mitigate the situation.”

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