APRIL 2025
CELEBRATING 146 YEARS AS CANADA’S PREMIER HORTICULTURAL PUBLICATION
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Trump’s tariffs: high stakes for greenhouse vegetable growers
The official opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario with Detroit Michigan is but months away in fall 2025. Yet the $6.4 billion span of the Detroit River is marred by a U.S. trade war with Canada that defies logic. A few scant miles away from the on-ramps is the epicentre of greenhouse vegetables in North America -- 4,100 acres of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in controlled environments. If Trump’s tariffs come into effect on April 2, the trade war risks a speed bump. Normally, 200 transports of Ontario produce go to the U.S. each day. Photo courtesy of the Gordie Howe International Bridge project.
That was then. And this is now. President Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs were temporarily paused after just three days on March 4 to 6, 2025 but the
damage on the Canadian side of the bridge was immediate. Collectively, Ontario greenhouse vegetable growers paid the U.S. federal government more than $6 million in tariffs. American consumers however, felt no impact as U.S. retailers used differing approaches to protect prices. Some invoiced the full tariff amount back to the growers, while others only invoiced a portion. This happened despite some existing sales contracts to the contrary. Uncertainty aside, Canadian growers have been getting ready for the impact. “Our marketers were very well prepared,” says Richard Lee, executive director, Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG). To guarantee that their produce cleared U.S. Customs at the border in a timely fashion, growers collectively posted additional bonds in advance with customs brokers managing their transborder shipments. Some farms had to post bonds
based on previous year’s sales. The dollar amount varied depending on the farm and situation. In one example, a farm had to post an additional $10 million bond within the space of a week. “This has stressed out operating lines of credit, cost of borrowing and the full value chain,” Lee explains. “Remember the grower doesn’t get paid until 40 to 60 days after delivery to the retailer.” Until mid-March, the American agriculture sector had been mostly silent about the impact from Canada’s proposed reciprocal tariffs. But American farmers, worried about the rise in Canadian potash prices, eventually rallied to have the American Farm Bureau tell President Trump he was losing support from his mid-west voting base.
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Storage, containers & packaging PG 16
KAREN DAVIDSON Summer 2024 “Canada and the United States have always done big things, together. As the largest and most ambitious infrastructure project along the Canada-United States border, the Gordie Howe International Bridge is proof of just that. Beyond further strengthening the deep connection between our two nations, this bridge will drive economic growth for both countries while creating more jobs and increasing border security.” ~ The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
Volume 75 Number 04 P.M. 40012319
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