Southeastern Manitoba canola growers ‘cautiously’ welcome Canada-China canola deal

Southeastern Manitoba canola producers say they welcome reduced Chinese tariffs on the crop but are still cautious after Canada reached a trade deal with China last week.

On Jan. 16, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the agreement would see China lower its levies on Canadian canola seed by March 1 to 15 percent, falling from the current combined tariffs of roughly 85 percent. Chinese levies were also removed from canola meal until at least the end of 2026. In return, Canada will accept 49,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles per year at a 6.1 percent tariff rate.

Randolph farmer Jason Rempel still has most of his canola harvest sitting in silos on his 2,000 acre farm. He considers himself lucky for getting some of his crop to market before the initial tariffs were levied in August 2025. Now with a new deal, he hopes to capitalize on his remaining canola seed.

“I’m watching the markets, and as soon as I see some prices that I like, I’m going to start selling it quite aggressively,” he told The Carillon.

Rempel is targeting $15 per bushel for what he’s hoping to sell his crop. Ideally, he wants all of last year’s crop sold before seeding is done this year. Rempel said he’s been able to weather the levies better than other farmers because he had a profitable corn harvest.

He said he’s paying close attention to global politics when adjusting his long-term plan for crop rotations and deciding how much canola he would plant. Rempel has already purchased roughly 700 acres worth of canola seed for the 2026 growing season.

“I’m not holding my breath that we’ll see zero percent tariffs on Canadian canola. But you know, if we can get that down to the standard five percent, I think I’ll move even more product to market,” he said.

While there’s some relief for his canola crop, Rempel’s hog barn is still feeling the squeeze from the 25 percent Chinese levies on Canadian pork. He sends 11,000 pigs per year to market. While prices remained high last year, the rocky trade relations with the U.S. makes pricing uncertain, Rempel said.

“Just being able to access more of the Chinese market with Canadian pork would be a benefit overall for the Canadian industry and can help keep seeing those profitable prices for hogs,” he said.

Manitoba Canola Growers Association executive director Delaney Ross Burtnack was excited to see a deal reached with China for dropping the levies.

“There’s recognition of the importance of the agriculture sector to trade between our countries, and it offers some assurance for canola farmers that our second largest market in China has the ability to continue to trade,” she said.

Canadian canola exports to China in 2024 were worth $4.9 billion.

The new deal will help farmers get their canola harvest to market easier as the tariffs deflated the canola price and made it difficult to sell to exporters, Ross Burtnack said.

While there was a reduced levy rate on canola seed and complete removal of tariffs on canola meal, the deal made no mention remedying tariffs on canola oil, she noted.

She hopes the new deal will lead to tariff-free trade with China for all canola products.

“We’re cautiously optimistic and relieved that there is finally some positive news coming out of more than 17 months of this being our number one priority right across the sector,” she said.

Colin Hornby, general manager for Keystone Agricultural Producers, views the drop in tariffs as adding more predictability for the 2026 growing season.

“If there were producers who were looking to move away from planting canola for this upcoming year because of the uncertainty, that may not persist as much,” he said, noting other factors like crop rotation and market conditions are considered when deciding what to plant.

The unresolved levies on canola oil and lingering tariffs on Canadian pork exports still present a market barrier for producers, Hornby said. He wants to see a permanent deal reached for both canola and pork, rather than the current agreement which has no specific end date.