Canadian honey farmers fear sting of China's canola tariffs

Ozten Shebahkeget · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 18, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The proprietor of a bluish Manitoba chromatic workplace says Canadian producers are successful a sticky concern arsenic China's tariffs connected Canadian canola could mean little nutrient for bees this year.

Steven Larocque and his household person operated Arctic Gold Honey successful Thompson for astir 7 years, producing astir 1,300 to 2,200 kilograms of chromatic a year.

Arctic Gold Honey's bees don't pollinate canola arsenic they make their honey, but Larocque says China's 100 per cent tariff connected Canadian canola exports — imposed past period successful effect to Canada's duties connected electrical vehicles, aluminum and alloy — volition sting different chromatic producers.

While Canada's chromatic manufacture hasn't been taxable to immoderate circumstantial tariffs, bees stitchery nectar — a superior nutrient root — and pollen from the flowers of the canola plant, which successful crook tin nutrient benefits for the canola, according to a provincial information sheet.

But "if you're impacted arsenic a canola farmer, and you cognize that you can't merchantability that canola, [you're] not going to effect canola successful that field," Larocque told CBC News connected Wednesday.

"If they're not planting those kinds of crops, wherever are the bees going to spell and marque honey?"

Larocque said his concern will, however, consciousness the pinch of Canada's trade war with the U.S. successful packaging materials, since it would beryllium hard to find different sources for the 500 cases of jars helium imports from the U.S. each year.

"It's not similar you tin bargain them from a antithetic supplier for cheaper," helium said. "The occupation with, say, places similar Amazon is that it's not consistent. You whitethorn beryllium capable to get containers 1 time, but adjacent time, they could beryllium sold out."

He hopes to stockpile packaging materials truthful helium tin support accordant support prices implicit the adjacent twelvemonth oregon two.

"At the extremity of the day, it each comes down to [whether] the lawsuit is going to wage that terms for that jar of honey, careless of however overmuch is taxed from antithetic avenues."

The enforcement manager of the Canadian Honey Council says the imaginable of U.S. tariffs connected Canadian chromatic exports is besides causing anxiousness among chromatic farmers, as tariffs would "probably decimate" their market.

Any large commercialized disruptions to Canada's chromatic manufacture would beryllium "felt dramatically" connected the Prairies, said Rod Scarlett.

"If we can't displace that market, past that accumulation that beekeepers person connected the Prairies either whitethorn not get sold oregon whitethorn person to get sold astatine dramatically little prices, which is beneath the outgo of production, which past jeopardizes the cognition completely."

Manitoba accounted for 19 per cent of the 92 cardinal pounds (roughly 41 cardinal kilograms) of chromatic produced crossed Canada successful 2023, according to Statistics Canada.

But Manitoba exported the astir chromatic of each Canadian provinces the aforesaid year, shipping out 38 per cent of the country's chromatic exports, Statistics Canada says.

The 2 main buyers, the United States and Japan, bought $46 cardinal worthy of exported chromatic successful 2023 — 95 per cent of Canada's exports, the information shows.

Some markets successful Southeast Asia whitethorn beryllium funny successful Canadian honey, said Scarlett, but that pivot can't beryllium done astatine a moment's notice.

Farmers besides fearfulness Canada whitethorn present retaliatory tariffs connected U.S. imports of queen bees, sugar syrups to provender bees successful the spring and beekeeping equipment, helium said.

Queen bee imports from the U.S. let beekeepers to present them to caller hives — and statesman accumulation — sooner, Scarlett said. About 260,000 of the 343,000 queen bees that Canada imported successful 2023 came from the U.S., according to Statistics Canada.

'Cumulative effect' connected crops

Canadian chromatic producers besides look a commercialized barrier unrelated to tariffs when it comes to the European Union, which has strict rules astir the usage and labelling of products that incorporate genetically modified foods, said Scarlett.

That includes chromatic from bees that came into interaction with canola pollen, helium said.

Pollination itself would go another concern if Canada's bee colonisation is affected by the trade war, arsenic they're a large pollinator of blueberries, cranberries and canola, said Scarlett.

"It's a cumulative effect here," helium said. "Although we're a tiny industry, we really, you know, onslaught supra our heads successful the interaction that it has successful the cultivation community."

Beekeepers often vessel their bees crossed the state to farmers who request them to pollinate their crops, and immoderate deed to the colonisation could mean a bee shortage, according to Rob Currie, prof emeritus astatine the University of Manitoba's entomology department.

It could besides person consequences worldwide, helium said, impacting "the bees disposable for pollination of crops connected a much planetary standard beyond Manitoba."

Scarlett said the chromatic manufacture has been keeping an oculus retired for quality arsenic it pushes the national authorities to exempt queen bees from immoderate potential countermeasures.

"We arsenic an manufacture — and conscionable similar everybody else, benignant of, successful the cultivation assemblage — conscionable don't person a existent bully grip astir however overmuch successful extent those tariffs volition go, and however overmuch successful extent volition the retaliatory tariffs person to go," Scarlett said.

But determination is simply a metallic lining, Scarlett says, arsenic income of Canadian chromatic person gone up in parts of the state amid heightened involvement successful locally made products.

"That has a large interaction on the quality of beekeepers to support an economic level that is supra the outgo of production."