ONTARIO — As spring planting draws ever nearer, uncertainty continues on the tariff status of pre-purchased Russian and Belarusian fertilizer already on its way to supply Ontario farmers.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Canadian government in early March slapped a 35% tariff on those fertilizer products. Still unresolved is whether any material ordered before March 2 — or already on its way to Canadian ports — will be subject to this extra cost and, if that’s the case, whether retailers will pass it along to farmers.
In an April 7 email to Farmers Forum, Fertilizer Canada spokesperson Kayla FitzPatrick could offer no assurances on the outcome but wrote that her organization is “working closely with our government contacts to find a fair solution for the industry and farmers.”
There are, she acknowledged, “still many unknowns as to how these tariffs will be enacted and on what product.”
FitzPatrick also noted that Fertilizer Canada “supports the tough Canadian response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine but is also concerned by significant uncertainty, financial costs and supply disruption to the fertilizer industry and our farmer customers in Eastern Canada.”
