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China said it will impose retaliatory tariffs on imports of rapeseed oil, pork and seafood from Canada as the trade war escalates.
There will be a 100% tariff on rapeseed oil, rapeseed meal and pea products, and a 25% levy on pork and some seafood imports, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Saturday. The changes will be effective March 20.
Canada last year imposed a 100% levy on electric cars and 25% on steel and aluminum from China. That led the Chinese government to launch an anti-dumping probe into rapeseed imports from Canada and lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization to challenge the decision.
The levies hurt Chinese industries’ operations and investments, and “seriously violated” WTO rules, the government said.
Canada is one of the world’s largest producers of rapeseed, a crop also known as canola. Shipments of rapeseed to China stood at 6.39 million tons last year, almost all of which were from Canada.
China is expected to import about 1.75 million tons of rapeseed oil this season, but it brings in larger volumes of the raw oilseed, USDA forecasts show. China’s pork imports have dwindled in recent years as it grapples with domestic oversupply amid a weakening economy.
US President Donald Trump this week delivered on his threat to hit Canada and Mexico with sweeping import levies and doubled an existing charge on China. The new US tariffs — 25% duties on most Canadian and Mexican imports and raising the charge on China to 20% — apply to roughly $1.5 trillion in annual imports.
China is highly vulnerable to the risk of a global trade war. Although the US directly absorbs only about 15% of Chinese exports, more goods are shipped there through Vietnam, Mexico and other countries.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that her country would review tariffs on Chinese shipments. Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in an interview with Bloomberg that Canada is prepared to work with the White House to hash out further measures to prevent China from “dumping into the North American market.”
–With assistance from Megan Durisin and Tian Ying.
(Update with more details of trade war)
