Like many Canadians mystified by the prospect of a trade war with their formerly friendly American neighbours, area farmers are taking a wait-and-see approach.
“I don’t think we fully understand yet what the impact of (U.S.) tariffs will be,” Ryan Jaspers, who grows canola and other crops at his Oliver Paipoonge farm just outside Thunder Bay, said on Monday.
Since being sworn in as American’s 47th president late last month, Donald Trump has been threatening to hit Canadian exports to the U.S hard with tariffs of 25 per cent or more.
Jaspers says the canola he grows is shipped overseas, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t be negatively impacted by U.S. duties on Canadian agriculture.
If the duties end up reducing the flow of America-bound canola from large producing provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan, Jaspers noted, the surplus would likely lower prices, ultimately impacting Ontario growers like him.
Jaspers said it appears Trump is determined to shake up existing trade agreements between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico with a view to give Americans an edge.
Also on Monday, the Grain Growers of Canada organization warned that if Trump’s tariffs on Canadian agricultural products go through, the result will be “a tax on every American family purchasing a loaf of bread, oatmeal, canola oil, and other food staples at the grocery store.”
According to the organization, more than $17 billion worth of Canadian grain and grain-based products are imported by the U.S. every year.
.”These imports include wheat for bread, durum for pasta, oats for food products, canola for oil and biofuels, barley for feed and brewing, and other grain and grain products for widespread usage,” the Grain Growers said in a news release.
It added: “Canadian grain imports allow American farmers to focus on high-value exports, securing better returns for their crops and strengthening North America’s position as a global agricultural powerhouse.”
