No End in Simmering Trade Dispute with China over Canadian Canola

OTTAWA – China’s ambassador to Canada is hoping a simmering trade dispute over Canadian canola exports won’t become an even bigger problem with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau set to visit Beijing next week.

In an interview with the Canadian Press, the ambassador (Luo Zhaohui) said Canada has been inflexible and “unfair” in its approach to talks that began seven years ago over Chinese concerns about rules for the make-up of canola shipments.

At issue is the amount of so-called “dockage” — foreign material such as other plants and weed seeds — found in Canadian canola exports to China.

China is concerned about the spread of a disease associated with canola and has given Canada until September 1st to cut the level of dockage in its deliveries of the crop down to one per cent from 2.5 per cent.