Deal with China is leaving questions, concerns in Oxford

Jeff Helsdon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Oxford MP Arpan Khanna has some concerns with Canada’s recent deal with China.

The main highlights of the deal open the market for Canadian canola, which is mostly grown in Saskatchewan, and allow nearly 50,000 Chinese electric vehicles into Canada without tariffs.

While Khanna said this may be good for Saskatchewan farmers, his concern is the impact on Oxford County automotive manufacturing.

“When I talk to our folks in Oxford, they are asking me a simple question - A little while ago, he (Prime Minister Carney) said China was the biggest threat they faced. Less than a year later, he is calling China our new strategic partner and talking about a new world order. People want to know what that means,” Khanna said.

The Oxford MP understands that President Trump is not easy to deal with, but emphasized that he is one president and that we need to look at the situation strategically.

“You can’t walk away from your best trading partner just because you don’t get along with them,” he said, pointing to the $2 billion worth of goods that leave Tillsonburg every year bound for the U.S.

“If we’re going to walk away from that, there’s going to be a challenge on the ground,” he said.

Outside the possibility of 49,000 Chinese EVs, which Khanna said is nearly one-third of total Canadian sales in a year, he questioned whether the vehicles pose a security risk and whether they will have cameras collecting information. Khanna said this, keeping in mind Chinese human rights violations, Canadian citizens being kidnapped, religious minorities being suppressed, and interference in the Canadian election.

“Instead of investing in our local supply chain, we are allowing these potential security camera vehicles to drive our streets collecting information,” he said.

Khanna pointed out that Carney promised a deal with the United States before the election. With the only major deal coming out of Carney’s travels being the one with China, Khanna said it is pitting one industry against another.

“I stand with our auto makers here in Oxford County and across Canada, and will raise those concerns,” he said.

Khanna said Carney painted himself as a man with a plan and solutions, yet there is nothing major after a year.

“There are Canadian lives and manufacturers at risk,” he said. “There’s $2 billion of goods going to the U.S. from Tilllsonburg. If we don’t get a good deal, we’re going to have problems in our country.”

The soybean situation

With all the talk of lifting tariffs on canola, the question arises: what about Ontario soybeans, which also go to China? While soybeans aren’t tariffed at the same rate as canola, the full story is more complicated.

Brian Innes, executive director of Soy Canada, explained Canadian soybeans have the same three per cent tariff as most other countries in the world. The United States paid tariffs at a higher rate, but a deal was recently struck between the two countries on soybeans.

“From a farmer’s perspective, there’s been a lot of geopolitical uncertainty injected into the market,” he said.

On the positive, Innes said there was a strong export of soybeans from the 2025 crop to China. He said there is still strong import demand for soybeans for animal feed and human consumption, and that he expected this to continue.

About 60 per cent of the world’s supply of soybeans is sent to China. In Ontario, 70 per cent of what is grown is exported, but Canada’s soybean production is only three per cent of the global crop. Ontario is the largest soybean producer in the country, accounting for about 60 per cent.

Brazil and the United States are the world's largest producers of soybeans. Prior to Trump striking a deal in December, the U.S. could not ship soybeans to China, which meant American beans were sent to other markets. These markets overlap with Canadian export markets.

“That made it difficult for us to compete in other markets, such as Indonesia,” he said.

Innes recently returned from the annual trip to China, Japan, and Taiwan. While he said it was successful, and demand is strong, he said both the U.S. and Brazil, which had good crops, will have an impact.