Chinese experts have filed a quality objection against a third Canadian exporter of canola, Canada’s agriculture minister said on Tuesday, potentially deepening a trade and diplomatic dispute between Beijing and Ottawa.
Early a month ago, China referred to the revelation of pests as the reason for blocking shipments of canola seed from Richardson International. Shortly afterward, it expanded the ban to a second major exporter, Viterra Inc.
“We have been informed that there is a third organization that gotten a non-compliance notice … it doesn’t imply that they are suspended,” Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau told the House of Commons trade committee, saying she could not identify the firm.
Beijing has been furious with Canada since the CFO of Chinese telecom mammoth Huawei Technologies Co Ltd was captured in Vancouver keep going December on a U.S. removal demand.
Richardson, Canada’s largest exporter of canola seed to China, said on Tuesday it would “not be a painless exercise” to find new international markets if Beijing’s ban on imports continued in the long term.
CEO Curt Vossen likewise anticipated Canadian ranchers could cut the measure of canola they plant this year by 10 percent or more.
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China represents around 40 percent of Canada’s canola seed, oil and supper send out, as per the Canola Council, with seed fares to China worth some C$2.7 billion ($2 billion) a year.
Canadian Trade Minister Jim Carr expelled the proposal by one official that Ottawa strike back against Beijing, given that China runs a substantial exchange surplus with Canada.
“We don’t think it’s in Canada’s interest to escalate the tension,” he told the trade committee.
Carr said on Monday he was conversing with different importers of canola, such as Pakistan, Mexico, and Vietnam to discuss whether they might buy more.
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