- China announced on Saturday that it would impose additional prices in Canada from March 20.
- Prices will strike Canadian agricultural and food products, the Chinese finance ministry said.
- Beijing cited “discriminatory” Canadian samples from Chinese electric vehicles as part of the decision.
China has announced that it would impose reprisal rates on certain Canadian agricultural and food products from March 20, deepening concerns about a world trade war.
In a press release on Saturday, the Chinese finance ministry said that a 100% price would be imposed on rapeseed oil, rapeseed meals and pea imports from Canada, as well as a 25% rate on certain seafood and pork products.
The ministry said that the decision had been taken in response to Canada’s 100% discriminatory levies from Chinese electric vehicles and 25% of Chinese steel and aluminum prices, which entered into force last year.
The American neighbor in the North is a large world rapeseed producer, also known as Canola, and China is its second market, according to the Canola Council of Canada. Canadian canola, petroleum and meal seeds to China were evaluated at $ 5 billion (around $ 3.5 billion) in 2023, according to Canola’s council.
Beijing’s announcement means that Canada is now faced with a trade battle on two fronts while pressure on its economy continues to grow.
Josh Lipsky, principal director of the Geoeconomic Center for the Atlantic Council, told Business Insider that when the Chinese prices were announced was particularly remarkable. This decision one day came just before the Liberal Party in Canada, the share, should announce a new chief after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in January that he would resign.
“China needs to reprisal,” said Lipsky.
“I think it is China that is trying to reset with Canada before what will be a much wider trade conflict with the United States,” he continued, adding that Beijing probably wanted to “erase decks” before a new Canadian chief is in place.
The announcement may also have been designed to serve as a warning in Canada not to align yourself too closely with the United States on trade policy.
The New York Times reported that China Central Television had published a comment that described the prices of “a powerful countertop at the wrong choice of Canada, and a strong warning to certain countries which intend to impose additional prices on China in exchange for the United States so as not to impose additional prices for them.”
Paul Smetanin, president of the Canadian Center for Economic Analysis, told BI that China’s decision was not surprising but that it stressed “the delicate environment in which Canada must manage its global economic interests”.
“In the future, the government’s priority must be to develop an agile commercial strategy capable of mitigating the risks posed by an increasingly unpredictable international market,” he said.
The news will be added to increasing uncertainty across North America compared to President Donald Trump’s pricing threats.
The Trump administration announced this week a period of one month to some 25% prices in Canada and Mexico in the midst of growing fears on the economic implications of a wider trade war. It also increased a 10% rate on all imports from China to 20%, causing rapid Beijing reprisals.
businessinsider
