Canada Faces Difficulties in Pea Exports

25-Dec-2025 07:56 PM

Toronto. Canada has seen a significant increase in pea production this year compared to last year, and with existing stocks, total availability has increased, resulting in a higher level of exportable stock.

On the other hand, exports are being affected by high tariffs imposed by top buyer countries like India and China.

China has imposed a 100 percent import duty on Canadian peas since March 2025, while India has imposed a 30 percent import duty since November 2025.

Canada is also facing tough competition in the global pea export market from Russia, which has also had a bumper crop this year. Russian peas are relatively cheaper, so importing countries are buying more from there.

Typically, China imported an average of 1.5 million tons of yellow peas annually from Canada, but this dropped to around 500,000 tons in 2024 and only reached 70,400 tons in 2025. Imports have been halted there since March 2025, and instead, Chinese importers are sourcing large quantities of peas from Russia.

The Canadian government is trying to persuade China to remove the 100 percent import duty on peas, but so far, it has not been successful.

As for India, yellow pea imports were completely exempt from customs duties for several months, but when domestic pulse prices started to fall rapidly and the government faced pressure from all sides to impose a tariff, a 30 percent customs duty was imposed, effective November 1, 2025. This customs duty applies to all exporting countries.

Several other Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as member countries of the European Union, also import peas from Canada, but they do not have the capacity to compensate for the shortfall from India and China.

The import of yellow peas into India has not stopped, but there are indications that the volume and frequency of imports are decreasing.