Ottawa, ON – Luc Berthold, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Agri-food, Erin O’Toole, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Dean Allison, Shadow Minister for International Trade Diversification, released the following statement regarding the near-cancellation of the Canada-China soybean trade:
“Today, media are reporting that the Canada-China soybean trade has plunged some 95% since December. In addition to this, reports indicate that that Chinese authorities have ramped up inspections on Canadian soy.
“It is clear that soy is just the latest casualty in Trudeau’s naïve approach to China. Under the failed leadership of Justin Trudeau, Canada’s reputation on the world stage has been diminished and Canada’s agriculture sector is paying the price.
“Conservatives know that Canadian farmers produce some of the highest quality soy in the world. Any assertion by the Chinese government to the contrary is both false and baseless.
“Justin Trudeau has failed to take action against the Chinese government’s totally unjustified trade actions directed against Canadian farmers. If Justin Trudeau fails to take action against the Chinese government after the arrest and detainment of two Canadians, and the repeated and continued attack on our agriculture sector, he never will.
“Conservatives have proven time and again that we will stand up to the Chinese government and support Canada’s agriculture sector. That is why an Andrew Scheer government will launch a WTO complaint against China, appoint a Canadian ambassador to China, and pull funding from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.”
