ONTARIO – On March 4, the United States imposed 10 per cent tariffs on energy imports from Canada and 25% tariffs on all other imports from Canada.
In response, Canada imposed reciprocal tariffs of 25% against $30 billion in imports of goods from the U.S., effective March 4.
U.S. tariffs have been suspended on most items until April 2; Canada’s reciprocal tariffs remain in place.
On March 12, U.S. tariffs of 25% on imports of Canadian steel and aluminum came into effect.
In response, Canada imposed 25% tariffs on $29.8 billion in products imported from the United States, effective March 13.
Chinese Tariffs
China has recently announced that it will impose 100% tariffs on Canadian canola and peas and 25% tariffs on pork and seafood products starting March 20.
These tariffs are in response to tariffs imposed by the Canadian government last fall on Chinese-made electric vehicles, steel and aluminium products.
“The global tariff and trade situation continues to remain fluid. The announcement of tariffs on Canadian agricultural exports by China is another blow to farmers who are already grappling with the impacts of the ongoing trade war between the United States and Canada as result of U.S.-imposed tariffs,” stated Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) president Drew Spoelstra.
“As these trade challenges unfold, the OFA is actively engaging with the federal and provincial governments, municipal leaders, our commodity partners, county federations, stakeholders, members and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture to identify the current and future impacts all of these trade actions have on our sector,” he added.
“We encourage our federal and provincial governments to continue their work in addressing this issue in a timely manner, and to ensure there is financial compensation available for farmers negatively affected by the U.S and Chinese tariffs.”
OFA actions
The OFA has created a tariff page on its website that is updated regularly with latest developments as well as a page outlining available supports and programs for affected farm businesses.
Other ongoing activities include:
– member and commodity outreach: OFA is working on many fronts to understand immediate impacts, challenges and opportunities on the agriculture sector. This includes convening a roundtable of commodity group leaders and having a presence at farm shows across the province to meet with members;
– government advocacy: OFA participates in twice weekly federal government-led calls to obtain information and provide feedback on national actions and sector needs. Some of this work resulted in the announcement of the Advanced Payment Program being extended through 2025 with a $250,000 interest free loan available to farmers as well as the announcement of $5 billion of programs through Farm Credit Canada and Economic Development Canada and more;
– interprovincial trade barriers: OFA is also identifying specific interprovincial trade barriers for agricultural goods and will be gathering direct input from its provincial policy advisory council on this issue at an upcoming meeting;
– connecting with Ontario business leaders: OFA is part of the Business Trade Leadership Coalition at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and brings agriculture’s perspectives to important meetings with government and the business community;
– buy local promotions: Free and paid media and digital opportunities are being used to promote local food, buy local programs and raising awareness of Ontario and Canadian labels, and information is shared regularly with an email distribution list of 75,000 Ontario consumers through the Home Grown campaign about how and where to shop local; and
– media interviews: Since early January, OFA directors have participated in dozens of interviews with media outlets across the province and continue to take part in many more. This is to share the impact of tariffs on Ontario and Canadian agriculture and ensure there is awareness of the agriculture sector’s vulnerability to this trade disruption and the importance of agriculture to our food sovereignty and security.
The OFA represents 38,000 farm families across the province and serves as the leading advocate and strongest voice of Ontario’s farmers.
As a dynamic farmer-led organization, the OFA represents and champions the interests of Ontario farmers through government relations, farm policy recommendations, research, lobby efforts, community representation, media relations and more.
