Following a Beijing investigation into Ottawa’s charges on Chinese commodities last year, China announced on Saturday that it will levy duties on Canadian exports, including pork and rapeseed oil.
Beijing’s commerce ministry announced that it would impose a 100 percent duty on Canadian peas, oil cakes, and imported rapeseed oil.
Pork and aquatic goods will be subject to a 25% tax.
Beijing stated that the regulations will take effect on March 20.
In an effort to counter the influx of Chinese state-subsidized automobiles into North America, Ottawa imposed 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports in August of last year.
Additionally, a surtax on Chinese imports of steel and aluminum items was announced.
A review of those policies revealed that Canadian regulations “disrupted the normal trade order and harmed the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” according to Beijing’s commerce ministry.
“China urges Canada to immediately correct its bad practices, lift its restrictive measures and eliminate its negative effects,” said a representative for the ministry.
Canada is among the world’s top producers of canola — an oilseed crop that is used to make cooking oil, animal feed and biodiesel fuel — and China has historically been one of its largest customers.
But bilateral ties plunged into a deep freeze for several years from 2018, when Canada detained Meng Wanzhou, a top executive from Chinese tech giant Huawei, prompting Beijing to arrest two Canadian nationals in retaliation.
And the fresh tariffs come as both Canada and China face deepening trade tensions with the United States, which under President Donald Trump has launched blistering new tariffs.
