WATCH ABOVE: Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland expressed positivity regarding recent threats to impose tariffs on Canadian goods by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.If they do, producers would have to plug the gaps left by restricted access to the country’s largest trading partner and consumers could be left paying higher prices.
Tariffs — which are levied on goods from other countries — would raise the cost of doing business and squeeze profits for Canadian producers The U.S. is the biggest market for Canadian canola, said Davison. In 2023, Canada exported about $8.6 billion in canola to the U.S., with about $6.3 billion of that being canola oil and the rest meal and seed, he said.Canadian beef is also caught up in the uncertainty. The majority of our beef and live cattle exports go to the U.S., said Dennis Laycraft, executive vice-president of the Canadian Cattle Association: about $6 billion worth, versus $1 billion to the rest of the world.
“I think initially the impact would be toward the U.S. citizens and the purchasing cost of those products, but eventually that would blow back onto the farmers here in Canada,” said Keith Currie, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. “The new president may think that he’s doing right by his citizens,” he added, but “the reality is he’s going to affect his businesses as well because of the integration of our two systems.”Trump’s election and his protectionist promises are part of a bigger shift that will influence the Canadian agri-food sector for years to come, said Fraser.
The canola industry has already been working for a few years to mitigate potential trade disruptions, said Davison.