Canadian yellow pea producers are facing a fresh blow after India announced a steep 30 per cent tariff on all imported yellow peas effective November 1, 2025. The move threatens to upend one of Canada’s largest agricultural export markets, coming just months after China imposed a crippling 100 per cent tariff on the same crop.
Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Minister, Daryl Harrison, sounded the alarm in a letter to federal ministers of agriculture and international trade, urging Ottawa to “immediately engage” with New Delhi to protect Canadian farmers. Harrison emphasized that India and China together accounted for 71 per cent of Canada’s yellow pea exports, with Saskatchewan alone exporting $480 million worth of peas to India in 2024.
The new tariff, India says, aims to limit cheaper imports and protect its domestic farmers. However, for Canada’s agriculture sector, the impact is potentially devastating. Harrison warned that mounting trade barriers—alongside growing uncertainty in the U.S. market—are “crippling” the country’s farm economy and threatening rural livelihoods.
With both major buyers now effectively closed off, Canadian exporters face a shrinking global market and an urgent need for new trade negotiations. Farmers across the Prairies fear that without swift federal action, the industry could face one of its toughest export seasons in decades.