The registration of Canadian agribusiness Richardson International and several of its subsidiaries to ship canola to China has been canceled, according to the website of the General Administration of Customs.
Chinese customs has not explained the reasons for the decision.
Cancelling the registration by the Manitoba-based agricultural firm, along with its five affiliates, to ship canola is widely seen as China’s accelerated retaliation against Canada following the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies.
Canola production yields significant benefits for Canada, which accounted for about 31 percent of the total canola output worldwide, a Chinese financial analyst surnamed Xu said in a post published on his Twitter-like Weibo account on Sunday. He forecast the canola market would respond actively to Meng’s extradition process.
Canada's Department of Justice issued an Authority to Proceed last Friday, formally commencing the extradition process of Meng, which Chinese officials strongly opposed.
Some Chinese analysts have suggested that China is likely to target certain Canadian industries in retaliation, as the move by Canada damages its relations with China.
Canada exported over $5 billion worth of canola last year, and nearly 50 percent of that was shipped to the Chinese market, according to media reports.
