Sask. premier warns that Chinese tariffs on canola would be ruinous
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe lashed out at American and Chinese tariffs on Wednesday, saying they will have a devastating impact on Saskatchewan workers.
"Make no mistake — a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese canola and meal exports, alongside the challenge that we're seeing in the United States with the on and off again tariffs on various products, will decimate the canola industry in Saskatchewan," Moe said at the annual Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) conference in Saskatoon on Wednesday.
"Immediately. In a matter of a number of weeks, not months."
China has announced that it will impose 100 per cent retaliatory tariffs targeting canola, as well as other Canadian goods like seafood and pork.
The decision comes in response to Canada's 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles and a 25 per cent levy on Chinese aluminum and steel products imposed on Oct. 1.
The Chinese tariffs are scheduled to kick in on March 20, just a day after the Saskatchewan budget is set to be introduced in the provincial legislature.
"I'm not sure you're going to hear the budget speak specifically to this, but you're gonna hear the Saskatchewan government speak specifically to this," Moe said.
The premier said no one wants to buy Chinese electric vehicles in Canada, and moving to protect Canadian and American car industries is directly harming agriculturally-based provinces like Saskatchewan.
Moe's ire was not just focused on the incoming Canola tariffs. On Wednesday morning, 25 per cent tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum to the United States officially came into force.
In response, the Canadian government announced a new set of 25 per cent tariffs on $29.8 billion worth of American imports. They include $12.6 billion worth of steel products, $3 billion worth of aluminum products and $14.2 billion worth of other goods. They are ti go into effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Thursday.
Those new tariffs are on top of the federal government's first retaliatory tariffs announced earlier this month, which applied to $30 billion worth of American goods and are to be increased to $155 billion at the end of March. The federal government said they will remain in place until all American tariffs are lifted.
Moe confirmed that Saskatchewan's retaliatory measures announced last week will also remain in place. They include blocking the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) from buying and distributing U.S.-made alcohol, and pausing future government capital projects to assess how American contractors and suppliers could be minimized.
"Things are changing literally by the hour," Moe said. "And we've seen that over the course of the last number of weeks. So a calm hand is necessary."
Aleana Young, the Saskatchewan NDP's economy and jobs critic, said at a separate news conference in Regina on Wednesday that the government should prioritize Canadian steel manufacturers.
"Stop using steel from outside of Canada, stop using cheap Chinese steel, stop using U.S. companies when it comes to building projects here in Saskatchewan," Young said.
More than half of Saskatchewan's exports go to the United States, totalling about $26.7 billion in 2024. About three quarters of those were from one of four products: crude oil, potash, canola oil and uranium.
According to Statistics Canada, in 2024 Saskatchewan exported $387 million worth of iron and steel products and $26 million worth of aluminum to the United States.
Regina is home to one of 13 steel plants in Canada. It's run by Ervaz plc, a steel manufacturing and mining company based in the United Kingdom.
According to United Steelworkers Local 5890 President Mike Day, about 30 per cent of the steel produced at the facility is shipped to a sister plant in the U.S.
"Right now everything is up in the air and we don't know what the next move is," said Patrick Veinot, a staff representative for United Steelworkers. "It's important that we get together and we discuss it. All parties, all stakeholders. That includes finance, that includes business, that includes the unions, you know, as organized labour.
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