Saskatchewan pork producers face impact of Chinese tariffs

Jeffery Tram · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 23, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

At King of Duck, a Chinese barbecue restaurant successful Saskatoon, the cook cautiously prepares pork for the day's service. 

The edifice specializes successful roasted and barbecued meats — a staple of Chinese cuisine. Philip Zhang, the restaurant's manager, came to Saskatoon aft 20 years cooking Chinese barbecue in Toronto. He said his edifice is the archetypal of its benignant successful Saskatchewan.

Some of the astir fashionable dishes impact pork, including roasted pork belly and char siu.

"Pork to the Chinese civilization is precise important," Zhang said. "On immoderate peculiar juncture — weddings, birthdays — pork is simply a must."

Pork is 1 of respective industries targeted successful a commercialized quality betwixt Canada and China.

In October, the Canadian authorities imposed tariffs connected Chinese electrical vehicles. In response, China announced a 25 per cent tariff connected Canadian pork taking effect connected March 20, raising concerns for Saskatchewan's producers.

Eric Micheels, an subordinate prof successful cultivation economics astatine the University of Saskatchewan, said China is simply a cardinal marketplace for pork — but not the lone one.

"China is the 3rd astir important destination for Canadian pork exports," Micheels said. "But we're possibly much reliant connected China than they are connected us."

Micheels said China tin root pork from different aggregate countries, specified arsenic Brazil and Spain, portion Canadian pork producers volition instrumentality a deed arsenic they effort to find different markets.

"Canada exports implicit fractional a cardinal dollars to China," said Mark Ferguson, wide manager of Sask Pork. "Canada's pork exports are annually implicit $4 billion. So that's a immense chunk of our full market."

Micheels said losing marketplace entree oregon facing higher costs could unit immoderate producers to reconsider their strategies.

"The champion happening producers tin bash close present is enactment arsenic businesslike arsenic possible," Micheels said. "That's what makes Canadian pork competitive."

Local farmers spot displacement successful demand

While larger producers interest astir the interaction of tariffs, not each pork farmers are affected.

Ben Martins Bartel, who owns Grovenland Farm adjacent Lanigan, doesn't trust connected exports. He sells the pork helium raises straight to consumers crossed Saskatchewan.

"We person a tiny onshore base, truthful we request to person a diversified farm," Bartel says. "We nutrient nutrient alternatively than commodities."

Since the tariff announcement, Bartel has noticed a surge successful request for locally-sourced pork.

"I've had a batch of calls, a batch of emails," helium said. "But with pigs, it takes 8 to 10 months to summation production. Right now, I person much involvement successful my products than I person supply."

Bartel said a stronger premix of large, tiny and mid-sized farms would marque the pork manufacture much resilient to planetary commercialized disruptions.

As tensions betwixt Canada, China and the United States play out, Bartel is hopeful that much consumers volition see buying local.

"Building that narration betwixt agriculture and consumers — wherever your neighbour is producing your nutrient — it's bully for us," helium says. "And successful the agelong run, it's bully for everyone."