Canada ‘ready to engage’ with China on trade as canola feud escalates

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Canada’s trade and agriculture ministers said they are “deeply disappointed” with China’s decision to impose new duties on Canadian canola, but stand ready to engage with Beijing on the trade dispute.

Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu and Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald issued a joint statement late Tuesday responding to China’s announcement of a 75.8% preliminary anti-dumping duty on canola seed from Canada. The new levy follows Beijing’s imposition earlier this year of a 100% tariff on canola oil and meal from the North American nation.

“We do not dump canola. Our hard-working farmers provide world-class food to Canadians and international trading partners,” Sidhu and MacDonald said. “Canada is committed to ensuring fair market access for our canola industry and we remain ready to engage in constructive dialogue with Chinese officials to address our respective trade concerns.”

While China remains Canada’s largest export market for canola after the US, exports of the crop to other regions, including the European Union, United Arab Emirates, Japan and Mexico, have increased in 2025, the ministers said. “We are steadfast in our commitment to defend and diversify Canadian trade,” they said.

Canola meal prices in China — where the commodity is known as rapeseed — jumped following the announcement of the new duty. Canola futures in New York climbed as much as 1.7% on Wednesday, after dropping 4.5% in the previous session.

China began imposing levies on Canadian canola products earlier this year in retaliation for Canadian tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, steel and aluminum. The Asian superpower previously restricted imports of Canadian canola in 2019, amid the feud over Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a US extradition warrant.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who won election this year on promises to fight the trade war with the US and diversify Canada’s export markets, appeared to open the door to a thaw in relations with China in a call with Premier Li Qiang in June. The two agreed to work together on the fentanyl crisis, and Carney raised trade concerns, including on canola.

Provincial leaders in Canada have urged Carney to repair trade relations with China, particularly as US tariffs impede Canada’s access to the world’s largest economy, where it sent 75% of its exports last year. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, whose province is Canada’s top canola producer, has said the country must reset its relationship with China.