China's tariffs on Canadian canola seed, oil, and meal, have had a ripple effect on exports, according to numbers from Statistics Canada on the Canola Council of Canada website.
Numbers showing exports for the calendar year of 2025 and up to the month of July indicate shipments of the three canola products are significantly lower following the initial tariffs in March.
Canada exported 180,184 metric tonnes of canola seed to China in July, lower than June's 237,897 metric tonnes and lower than the peaks of March (411,757 tonnes) and April (468,929 tonnes).
For canola meal, 30,000 tonnes was sent to China in July, slightly lower compared to June's 32,506 tonnes and much lower than 195,556 tonnes in March. The peak for canola meal shipments this year was in January with 211,386 tonnes.
Canola oil exports in July were only 27 metric tonnes and there were two months – June and March – where no canola oil was exported. February had the highest number of canola oil exported at 69,769 tonnes.
The tariffs have also caused a ripple effect down the supply chain from those who ship the product, to companies, to farmers.
CEO of Bunge Canada Kyle Jeworski says a market like China is impossible to replace no matter how diverse a trade portfolio is.
"It's a place that we just can't replace with the other remaining markets either domestically or abroad," said Jeworski. "It does have a major effect on our farmers.
"We're working with the federal government (and) provincial government in terms of trying to help support the Western Canadian farmer number one, to make sure that they've got the right stability in place. Second is we're doing what we can to diversify and we're also a large domestic crusher of canola seed, so we're continuing to be a home for Canadian farmer's canola seed. We're also working with other international customers to try to diversify, but it's difficult diversifying away from our number one export market."
The tariffs also affect Bunge's plans of a canola crush facility in Regina. Jeworski says they're half-way through a feasibility study to determine "the demand side of it and also the costings" and acknowledged what China does moving forward will be a factor in the study.
"So for a canola plant to be successful, you have to be able to buy the seed (and) you have to be able to market both the meal and the oil – you're not successful unless you can do all three legs. China is a very important market for us, especially on the meal side. Canada's largest two markets for (canola) meal are the U.S. and China so it definitely plays a factor in our feasibility study as to try and understand what the Chinese may or may not do in the future." he said.
In the short-term, China is buying canola from Australia, something Jeworski says hasn't been seen in a long time.
"There was a lot of issues in the past that the Chinese have stated against the quality of the Aussie seed but in the end, I think what we would like to see is open and fair trade, so we're fine competing with the Aussies for that market but right now with the market closed for us that's a difficult situation. For us, the sooner we can get to fair and open trade, the better."
Jeworski says restoring market access to China comes down to high-level meetings, something he adds will take time and not resolve itself overnight.
