Flower Canada Growers Says Tariffs Pose Threat to Both Canadian and U.S. Producers

Canada is home to a large floral sector representing more than 1,500 family farms from coast to coast. Many of these family farms have built long-standing relationships with farmers, retailers, and other businesses in the U.S., creating decades of cross-border prosperity and growth using highly integrated supply chains. The new U.S. Section 338 tariffs target a significant subset of these farms that produce cut flowers, orchids, and propagative material for U.S. markets. The resulting disruption threatens not only Canadian farms, but also U.S. businesses that rely on Canadian products and plant material, including American farmers.

The Section 338 tariffs capture approximately $210 million (CAD) in annual Canadian flower exports to the U.S. These flowers are perishable products, some of which have been in production for more than a year. It is not feasible to redirect these products to other markets as the Canadian market is too small to consume them, international markets are largely inaccessible to Canadian farms at this time, and the plants’ perishable nature limits the ability of farms to pivot or source other buyers. Production of these plants has been planned and executed for more than a year with very narrow sales windows in mind: there is simply no alternative destination for these products.

Flowers Canada Growers (FCG) strongly believes that the only path to continued growth and prosperity in the floral sector is continued free trade between the two countries.

“The partnership shared by Canada and the U.S, has been the envy of the world for decades,” says Jan VanZanten, Flowers Canada Growers President. “The breakdown in mutually beneficial trade relationships will create untold harm for Canadian and U.S. businesses alike. We need to find a way to create a deal that respects the needs of both countries so that we can all get back to improving the lives of people across the continent.”

Canadian farms will face immediate financial losses, while U.S. growers and retailers will face challenges sourcing sufficient young plants, orchids, and other flowers required to maintain production and meet consumer demand. Many Canadian products cannot be quickly or easily replaced from other sources at comparable quality, reliability, volume, or price. The highly integrated nature of these supply chains means that disrupting Canadian exports will also disrupt U.S. production.

With new Canadian retaliation expected following Labor Day, and new programming to support affected businesses to follow, Canada’s flower farmers are seeking opportunities to contribute to Canada’s strategy moving forward. Many Canadian farms rely on access to inputs from the U.S. for their production, and retaliation may risk driving up costs for the businesses that Canada is seeking to defend. Further, many of the business supports currently available do not alleviate the pressures that will be faced by farmers in the near term. FCG is seeking to work with the federal government to develop targeted measures that address the immediate liquidity and business-continuity challenges facing affected flower farms, while preserving the sector’s long-term production capacity and market relationships.

“Canada’s flower farmers have built their businesses on trust, reliability, and quality,” says Andrew Morse, Flowers Canada Growers Executive Director. “Our farms often say their U.S. clients are like family to them, and many have expressed regret and disappointment that these long-standing relationships will be strained by this trade disruption. The only long-term solution to this issue is a return to good-faith negotiations between Canada and the U.S.”

FCG is strongly urging both Canada and the U.S. to continue efforts to establish a mutually beneficial trade agreement for farmers across both Canada and the U.S. Disruption of the floral sector’s highly integrated supply chain will only hamper farm success, reduce consumer choice, and increase inflationary pressure on families across both trading partners. Please direct all inquiries to Executive Director Andrew Morse at [email protected].