More Canadian crops are being banned from export to China.
The Chinese government has released an expanded list of Canadian farm exports that it is preventing from entering its ports, including Canadian soybeans, peas and pork.
China has already blocked Canadian canola, saying that shipments contain pests and other contaminants. Other China-bound canola cargoes have been cancelled, forcing exporters to re-sell elsewhere at discount.
Canadian officials in Ottawa have been scrambling to resolve the issue, saying that China’s claims against Canadian agriculture products are baseless, and noted that China detained two Canadians after Canada arrested an executive of Chinese telecom company Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. in December at the United States' request.
Yet China persists in using non-tariff barriers against Canada as the two countries diplomatic tensions over the detention of a Huawei executive escalate. Now traders say Canadian soybeans and peas face obstruction getting into China. Ottawa also warned last week that China was holding up pork shipments over "paperwork issues."
Increasing tensions with China, a top buyer for most Canadian farm commodities, have forced farmers to plant other crops, such as wheat, that they hope will not face similar barriers to entering China. As a whole, China bought $2.7 billion worth of Canada's canola and $514 million worth of pork last year.
Ottawa said earlier this month that it plans to send a delegation to China to discuss the diplomatic tensions and ongoing agriculture issues.
