India imposes surprise 50% tariff on pea imports to further sour trade

CALGARY – Pulse Canada says the Indian government has imposed a hefty and surprising 50 per cent tariff on pea imports to add to already simmering agricultural trade tensions.

Gordon Bacon, CEO of the industry group, says the move brings into question what the intermediate and long-term trade relation will be with a major destination for Canadian pulse crops.

In the past three years, Canada has exported over a million tonnes of peas to the country with a value of $548 million in 2015.

Bacon says the punitive tariffs are the highest under WTO rules, whereas before there was no tariff on pea imports.

He says he’s still waiting to hear what the Canadian government plans to do in response to this action, days ahead of a major trade mission to the country.

The pea tariff issue comes on top of the unresolved fumigation issue, with India not yet extending an exemption to pest treatments for Canadian imports that has been in place for many years.