Canada has launched a dispute against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over additional duties on agricultural and fishery products, the international body said on Monday.
“Canada has requested WTO dispute consultations with China concerning Chinese measures that impose additional import duties on certain agricultural and fishery products from Canada,” the agency said.
The tariffs, announced earlier this month, hit rapeseed oil, oil cakes – a type of animal feed – and peas imported from Canada with a 100 per cent surcharge.
Canada is among the world’s top producers of canola, a rapeseed crop that is used to make cooking oil, animal feed and biodiesel fuel, and China has historically been one of its largest customers.
Aquatic products and pork, meanwhile, will face a 25 per cent levy.
Canadian industry leaders have said they would be hit hard by the new tariffs, which follow a Beijing investigation into levies imposed by Ottawa on Chinese goods last year.
