Canada's honey industry braces for blow from US tariffs

Canadian beekeepers, who send around 70 percent of the country's honey exports to the United States, are scrambling to move as much honey across the border as they can before new US tariffs take effect. Industry figures warn the closing of the American market would be catastrophic for beekeeping and ripple across the wider agriculture sector.

Canada's honey producers are bracing for a heavy blow as new United States tariffs loom. Several hundred beekeepers across the country send around 70 percent of Canada's honey exports to the US, making the American market central to the industry's survival.

Those cross-border shipments have probably increased dramatically over the last two weeks. Producers are scrambling to get as much honey across the border as they can before the tariff kicks in, racing against the clock to move their product while the door is still open.

Rod Scarlett of the Canadian Honey Council said the American buyers are anxious about the disruption. He noted that US packers were quite worried they would not be able to get Canadian honey in line with their contract delivery dates and the prices they had agreed to.

With the US market effectively closing to Canadian honey, an industry advocate warned that the impact would be catastrophic for the beekeeping industry in Canada. For an export-dependent sector, losing access to its main customer leaves producers with few alternatives.

The advocate cautioned that the ripple effect would not stop at honey. A collapse in the beekeeping industry would have knock-on consequences for pollination and, through that, for other food crops that depend on healthy bee populations.

Framed that way, the stakes extend far beyond a single product. This is not just a few hundred million dollars in honey that is being affected, the advocate said, but billions of dollars across the agriculture industry that would be exposed to the fallout from these tariffs.

In a statement to CBC, a spokesperson for Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canada is engaging intensively with the United States to address outstanding trade issues, but declined further comment while negotiations continue. If a deal is not reached, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has pointed producers to existing federal safety net programs such as Agri-Invest to help cushion the blow, leaving beekeepers to wait and hope a deal is reached before the deadline arrives.

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