Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is once again facing calls to defend farmers after new numbers show exports from the province to China It has decreased dramatically.
Statistics Canada data released this week comes amid a trade dispute that has been criticized by Beijing Definitions on Canadian canola products, which is widely seen as a response to Canada’s 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles.
Show data Saskatchewan Goods worth $96 million were exported to China in August, a decline of 76 percent compared to the same month last year.
About 60 percent of the province’s exports to China are agricultural and food products, and data shows that they have been declining since June.
Aliana Young, trade critic for the opposition NDP, says the decline could impact the province’s economy and job market.
She says Mo needs to take a stronger stance by calling for the elimination of tariffs on electric cars.
“She (Mo) should be on the phone every day with the prime minister of Canada, making clear that these tariffs need to be removed to help the Saskatchewan economy,” she told reporters Wednesday.
Get daily national news
Get the day’s top political, economic and current affairs news, headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
“People are concerned about the impact on their ability to keep crops in the bin, what this will mean for next year and whether they will be in a position to keep their family farms going.”
Moe has said he wants Ottawa to get rid of tariffs on electric cars, but only if the country remains on good terms with the United States. He has since said that removing it would not be a simple solution.
Canada imposed the tariffs in line with the United States, which also imposes a 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars. Canada said that this measure aims to protect the country’s automobile industry.
In September, Moe traveled to China with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s parliamentary secretary, Cody Blois. He said that the meetings were positive.
A statement from Mo’s office on Wednesday said Ottawa and Beijing should continue to talk to each other.
“Saskatchewan will continue to call on the federal government to make this happen and remains ready to provide any insight or assistance if necessary,” the statement read.
The province has prioritized trade diversification, exporting nearly $50 billion worth of goods annually over the past three years, the statement says.
China, which is Saskatchewan’s second-largest export market, last year received nearly $4 billion in agricultural products from the province.
“Our government will always stand with Saskatchewan producers and will not learn any lessons from the NDP with their disastrous economic policies that will devastate our economy,” the statement read.
& Edition 2025 The Canadian Press
https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/89503526c7125e8ed5f26db6aca14b2eff318e14ab8758e114f41c608db95ca4.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=720&h=379&crop=1
Source link