Politics
China’s tariffs on Canada are in place. What are they targeting? TenX News
Canadian agricultural producers are warning of devastating impacts from new Chinese tariffs that began Thursday, which they say will compound the economic strain from the U.S. trade war.
China has imposed a 100 per cent levy on Canadian canola oil and meal, as well as peas, plus a 25 per cent duty on seafood and pork.
Those are on top of existing 25 per cent tariffs on a majority of exports to the U.S., which is set to bring in further “reciprocal” tariffs on April 2 that match those put on American goods.
“If you’re a processor, you’re going to feel the pressure of this in a much more meaningful way going forward,” said Erik Johnson, a senior economist and vice-president at Bank of Montreal Capital Markets.
For Tara Sawyer, an Alberta grain farmer and chair of Grain Growers of Canada whose crops include canola, the Chinese tariffs compound the tough time she and other farmers have faced over the past two to three years, with below-normal revenues due to drought and rising operating costs.
The tariffs also come just weeks before seeding begins for this season’s crops.
“This makes what’s already been challenging quite devastating, really,” she told Global News.
Why did China impose these tariffs?
The tariffs are in retaliation against Canada’s 100 per cent levies on Chinese-made electric vehicles and a 25 per cent tax on aluminum and steel products, which were announced last year.
The federal government has accused China of unfairly subsidizing its EV industry in order to get cheap vehicles into North America, threatening Canada’s auto industry.
The EV tariffs matched similar levies imposed by the U.S. for the same reason.
China launched “anti-dumping” investigations into Canadian canola imports in September 2024 in response, and announced the new tariffs on March 8 as a result.
“It’s a punitive number made up by the Chinese regime,” Daniel Trefler, an economist and professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, said about the 100 per cent tariff on canola products.
“Canada is trying to protect itself from what would be the total collapse of our auto sector if we allow China to massively subsidize their autos…. [Canada’s EV tariffs on China] were arrived at after careful consideration and reflects the reality in China.”
The growing trade war has upended recent efforts to improve relations between Ottawa and Beijing from the low point of 2019 and 2020, when Canada detained Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou. China targeted canola exports in retaliation at that time too, as well as Canadian nationals in China.
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Relations are even more tense after it was revealed Wednesday that China has executed four Canadians for “drug-related crimes” this year.
What could the impact be?
China is Canada’s top export market for canola seeds, oil and meal. The Canola Council of Canada says economic activity with China was almost $5 billion last year, including nearly $1 billion in canola meal.
Sawyer, who manages a 4,000-acre grain farm in Acme, Alta., says the new tariffs effectively shut the door on that market due to the steep rate.
“Where are we going to be selling that canola, or can we?” she said. “It’s really stressful, and it’s changing all the time. There’s so much uncertainty.”
Johnson notes that canola seeds, which make up a majority of Canada’s canola trade, aren’t included in Thursday’s tariffs, although Beijing has said it is continuing to investigate alleged dumping of those exports.
When China’s anti-dumping probes were first announced, credit agency Morningstar DBRS said resulting tariffs could lead to a “billion-dollar hit” for the country and its supply chain.
The Canola Council of Canada estimates the industry lost between $1.54 billion and $2.35 billion between March 2019 and August 2020 from lost sales and lower prices due to China’s previous tariffs.
Canola prices could fall further in Canada as producers look to sell off product that was previously meant for Chinese export, Sawyer and economists say.
The Fisheries Council of Canada, meanwhile, said in a statement this month that a 25 per cent Chinese tariff on seafood products is an “existential threat” to the industry. It said the combination of tariffs from China and the U.S. will “effectively cut off” 83 per cent of Canada’s seafood export markets worldwide.
According to the federal government, China is Canada’s second-largest fish and seafood export market after the U.S., with $1.3 billion in products shipped there last year. Some export markets, like geoduck clams out of British Columbia and elvers in the Maritimes, rely almost exclusively on Chinese buyers.
As for pork, China is the third-largest export market behind the U.S. and Japan, with over $43 million in products exported over the past year.
“These Chinese tariffs could not have come at a worse time,” Keith Currie, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, said in a statement this month.
Trefler said while China’s tariffs may not impact inflation, they will have “huge” effects on employment and output, with farms potentially forced to lay off workers or close altogether.
“It’s devastating not only for the individual farmers but for the communities that surround those farmers,” he said.
Johnson said China’s actions, while destabilizing to specific industries, still pose less uncertainty than the ever-evolving trade policies out of the Trump administration in the U.S., which continue to be the driving factor for recession fears.
“There’s already been some emphasis on [diversifying trade away from China] for years,” he said. “The challenge is, some of that reshuffling has been toward a partner [the U.S.] that we’re now less certain of.”
How are governments responding?
The federal government and provinces where affected sectors are concentrated are being asked to support producers whose bottom lines will be hit.
Agriculture Minister Kody Blois said Wednesday that he has spoken with his counterparts in Alberta and Saskatchewan about using “all the tools in our toolbox, including our Business Risk Management programs, to support our canola, pea and pork farmers.”
“We’re focused on making sure there are supports, to make sure that there are mechanisms in place to support those impacted producers,” he told reporters after a cabinet meeting in Ottawa. He said more details will be shared in the coming days.
“This is significant.”
Alberta’s government set aside $4 billion this year to manage its response to tariffs, up $2 billion from the year before.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told reporters Wednesday there was a potential for a “made in Canada solution” to ensure canola crops can get to market.
“I don’t have a solution for pork yet,” Smith said. “I have doubled my bacon intake as a measure of support.”
Manitoba’s budget, announced Thursday, included broad plans for hundreds of millions of dollars for supports for businesses, agricultural producers and individuals, and also introduced new tax measures to help spur investment.
Saskatchewan, with a slim $12-million surplus in its budget tabled Wednesday, did not set aside money to help manage the potential impact of tariffs.
Nova Scotia Fisheries Minister Kent Smith told reporters Wednesday that the government can provide assistance to seafood producers from its $200-million contingency fund established to deal with the impact of tariffs if necessary.
But he also downplayed the potential short-term impact of China’s new levies, saying he heard “cautious optimism” from producers at a three-day seafood expo he attended with Premier Tim Houston this week.
Industry groups say government will eventually have to step in with new supports to address China’s tariffs specifically, saying the relief launched in response to U.S. tariffs won’t be sufficient.
Sawyer said she’s particularly concerned about farmers’ mental health as they deal with additional stress.
“Everybody is struggling with what to do,” she said.
— with files from The Canadian Press
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to take over her country after the U.S. ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.
The Nobel Institute has said Machado could not give her prize to Trump, an honour that he has coveted. Even if the gesture proves to be purely symbolic, it was extraordinary given that Trump has effectively sidelined Machado, who has long been the face of resistance in Venezuela. He has signalled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who had been Maduro’s second in command.
“I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters after leaving the White House and heading to Capitol Hill. She said she had done so “as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”
Trump confirmed later on social media that Machado had left the medal for him to keep, and he said it was an honour to meet her.
“She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done,” Trump said in his post. “Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”
The White House later posted a photo of Machado standing next to Trump in the Oval Office as he holds the medal in a large frame. A text in the frame reads, “Presented as a personal symbol of gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan people in recognition of President Trump’s principled and decisive action to secure a free Venezuela.”
Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela, giving no timetable on when elections might be held. Machado indicated that he had provided few specifics on that front during their discussion.
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She did not provide more information on what was said.
‘We can count on President Trump’
After the closed-door meeting, Machado greeted dozens of cheering supporters waiting for her near the White House gates, stopping to hug many.
“We can count on President Trump,” she told them without elaborating, prompting some to briefly chant, “Thank you, Trump.”
Before her visit to Washington, Machado had not been seen in public since she travelled last month to Norway, where her daughter received the peace prize on her behalf. She had spent 11 months in hiding in Venezuela before she appeared in Norway after the ceremony.
The jubilant scene after her meeting with Trump stood in contrast to political realities in Venezuela. Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations, along with others in Maduro’s inner circle. In her first state of the union speech Thursday, the interim president promoted the resumption of diplomatic ties between the historic adversaries and advocated for opening the state-run oil industry to more foreign investment after Trump pledged to seize control of Venezuelan crude sales.
Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Machado “a remarkable and brave voice” but also said the meeting didn’t mean Trump’s opinion of her changed, calling it “a realistic assessment.”
Leavitt told reporters that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.
A ‘frank and positive discussion’ about Venezuela
Leavitt said Machado had sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. She spent about two and a half hours at the White House.
“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado,” the press secretary said while the meeting was still going on, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”
After leaving the White House, Machado went on to a closed-door meeting with a bipartisan group of senators.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Machado told them that “if there’s not some progress, real progress towards a transition in power, and/or elections in the next several months, we should all be worried.”
“She reminded us that Delcy Rodríguez is, in many ways, worse than Maduro,” he added.
Asked if Machado had heard any commitment from the White House on holding elections in Venezuela, Murphy said, “No, I don’t think she got any commitment from them.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, was exultant following the meeting, saying Machado “delivered a message that loud and clear: What President Trump did was the most important, significant event in Latin America. That getting rid of Maduro was absolutely essential.”
Machado’s Washington stop coincided with U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seizing another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela. It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife less than two weeks ago at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
Leavitt said Venezuela’s interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and noted that Rodríguez’s government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.
Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
Machado doesn’t get the nod from Trump
Just hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.” Machado had steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize, and had sought to cultivate relationships with him and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate, Machado began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for travelling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush, whom Chávez considered an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshalled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown.
Politics
IMF chief backs Jerome Powell, U.S. Fed independence amid Trump pressure – National TenX News
International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday underscored the importance of keeping central banks independent and threw her support behind beleaguered Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is facing a Trump administration investigation for renovation cost overruns.
Georgieva told Reuters in an interview that there was ample evidence that central bank independence worked in the interest of businesses and households, and that evidence-based, data-based decision-making is good for the economy.
The IMF managing director said she had worked with Powell and respected his professionalism.
“I have worked with Jay Powell. He is a very good professional, very decent man, and I think that his standing among his colleagues tells the story,” she said, when asked about a letter of support signed by her predecessor, Christine Lagarde, now head of the European Central Bank, and other large central banks.
Powell on Sunday disclosed that the Trump administration had opened an investigation into him over cost overruns for a $2.5 billion project to renovate two historical buildings at the Fed’s Washington headquarters complex.
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Powell denies wrongdoing and has called the unprecedented actions a pretext to put pressure on him for not bowing to U.S. President Donald Trump’s long-running demands for sharply lower interest rates.
The probe has sparked widespread criticism from some key members of Trump’s Republican Party in the U.S. Senate, which must confirm his nominee to succeed Powell, along with foreign economic officials, investors and former U.S. government officials from both political parties.
Trump has repeatedly derided Powell’s leadership of the Fed and attacked him, often personally, over what he sees as the Fed chair’s slow moves to cut interest rates. On Wednesday, he dismissed concerns that eroding central bank independence would undermine the value of the U.S. dollar and spark inflation, telling Reuters, “I don’t care.”
Georgieva said the IMF looked carefully at issues such as monetary and financial stability, as well as the strength of a country’s institutions. It was specifically interested in the Fed, given the role of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency.
“It would be very good to see that there is a recognition … that the Fed is precious for the Americans. It is very important for the rest of the world,” she said.
Trump has also attempted to fire another Fed official, Governor Lisa Cook, who has challenged her termination in a legal case that will be argued before the Supreme Court next week.
B.C. Premier David Eby spoke to reporters on Thursday morning from Mumbai, India, during his six-day trade mission.
He said that mining and energy companies in India are showing an interest in B.C.
“They are looking strongly to LNG as one of their ways of reducing carbon intensity, as well as reducing smog in the country,” Eby said.
“And so B.C. LNG has been an item of considerable interest, especially the projects that are reaching final investment decision over the next year — LNG Canada Phase 2, KSI Lisims LNG — as well as the projects that are under construction like Woodfibre LNG.”
Eby was also asked about the rise in extortion cases in B.C.
He said the province’s extortion task force will provide an update next week.
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“We have assembled a remarkable and historic task force, RCMP, CBSA,” Eby said.
“There are more police in Surrey right now than there have ever been. The RCMP has surged resources into the community.”
Eby said he has not been happy with the fact that there has been no update from the task force and he has asked them to provide one.
“There have been some important developments, people deported, an arrest here in India, cooperation between the Indian government and the Canadian government on this at the law enforcement level,” he added.
“That needs to continue, but, bluntly, we need better results, we need to see more arrests and whatever we can do to support the police to get the job done, we will do so.”
As of Jan. 12, Surrey police said there have been 16 reported extortion incidents in the city since the beginning of the year.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Trump gifted Nobel Peace Prize by Venezuela’s María Corina Machado – National TenX News
IMF chief backs Jerome Powell, U.S. Fed independence amid Trump pressure – National TenX News
B.C. Premier David Eby says province’s LNG, mining of interest to India TenX News
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