Saskatchewan is using the current situation to highlight other sectors of interest
The Canadian Prairie province of Saskatchewan, with a population of just over a million, plays a mega role in the Indo-Canadian trade relationship. In November, Saskatchewan’s Premier Scott Moe — equivalent to the chief minister of an Indian state — will travel to India on a weeklong visit. He will explore ways to further the relationship in the face of some major headwinds that have cropped up in recent months.
Last year, Moe’s province alone accounted for more than a third of Canada’s exports to India, at over a billion dollars. India is the third largest market for Saskatchewan’s exports, behind the US and China. While Saskatchewan is among the world’s leading producer of pulses and accounts for over 40 per cent of the world’s – and virtually all of Canada’s – lentil exports, India has emerged as its top market for this commodity in recent years.
However, exports of pulses to India plunged this year after the central government sharply hiked import tariffs on pulse crops, pushing them up to 33 per cent for lentils and 50 per cent for peas.
Privately, experts believe the Indian hurdles to import of pulses may be related to domestic oversupply following good harvests and the need to protect farmers’ margins ahead of next year’s elections. In an interview after his keynote speech at the Canada-India Business Council’s Diwali gala in Toronto, Moe struck a positive note on the scope of trade with India despite the setback in the pulses sector.
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