Ottawa, ON – John Barlow, Conservative Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Agri-Food, Stephanie Kusie, Conservative Shadow Minister for International Trade, and Eric Duncan, Conservative Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement regarding China’s implementation of a 73.5 per cent preliminary tariff on Canadian pea starch effective July 1st:
“Less than a week ago in Tokyo, International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu claimed his Liberal government’s priority was to ‘present certainty to our farmers.’ Today, right before our national holiday, Canadian pea producers received the reality of Liberal ‘certainty’: a crushing 73.5 per cent preliminary tariff from Beijing.
“This new tariff proves the Liberals’ trade strategy is a complete disaster. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a reckless ‘strategic partnership’ with the communist regime in Beijing, allowing 50,000 Chinese electric vehicles onto our streets and putting Canadian auto jobs and national security at risk. In exchange, the Liberals accepted weak, short-term, temporary tariff reductions on canola expiring at the end of 2026, offering zero long-term stability.
“As Conservatives warned, there was no guarantee these trade barriers would be permanently, immediately or completely eliminated. While our pea starch processors face more uncertainty, Canadian agricultural and seafood exporters continue to suffer under persistent Chinese trade barriers on pork, canola, peas and seafood this Liberal government left completely unresolved.
“The Liberal trade agenda failed our farmers. Conservatives will always stand up for our agricultural sector, putting Canadian jobs, security and sovereignty first.”