Glacier Farm Media | MarketsFarm — Tariffs were a major influence on Canadian yellow pea prices in 2025, with levies imposed by China and India. The two countries are Canada’s biggest foreign pulse buyers.
China with the first blow
China dealt a serious blow to Canada’s yellow pea exports in March, as Beijing slapped 100 per cent tariffs on its imports of the pulse crop from Canada, as well as canola oil and meal. The move was a retaliatory measure against Ottawa’s earlier action to impose 100 per cent duties on Chinese-made electric vehicles and 25 per cent on steel and aluminum that went into effect in October 2024.
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Pulse Canada said about 500,000 tonnes of Canadian yellow peas in total were exported to China in 2024, with average annual exports of around 1.50 million.
Data from the Canadian Grain Commission showed China’s pea imports from licensed facilities in 2025/26 are a mere 70,400 tonnes. That represents less than eight per cent of the nearly 892,000 tonnes Canada has shipped out so far this year. In 2024/25, China already took in 263,000 tonnes, which were more than 26 per cent of Canada’s pea exports.
India with the second blow
Then throughout much of 2025, India has played something of a cat and mouse game with a series of extensions to its duty exemptions on yellow pea imports. A lack of domestic supply and rising prices led the Indian government to suspend its duties, but not without some bumps along the way.
Back in March, there was a great deal of uncertainty as to what New Delhi was up to as it had missed its own deadline to announce another extension or impose tariffs. Almost two weeks late, New Delhi said it extended the duty-free period to the end of May.
Things seemed to be just fine with India until the proverbial wheels came off the bus at the end of October. Rumblings within the market proved to be true when New Delhi slapped 30 per cent tariffs on all of is yellow pea imports, even though it said earlier the duty-free period would last until March 2026.
Declining prices led India’s pulse growers to push for the duties to be reinstated, and a lot earlier than what the government planned.
Prices & production
Currently, yellow pea prices across Western Canada are C$6.50 to C$7.38 per bushel delivered as of Dec. 19, Prairie Ag Hotwire reported. During 2025, the yellows topped off at a high of C$11.40 and they were C$5.94 at their lowest point.
As for production, Statistics Canada placed the 2025/26 total dry pea harvest at 3.93 million tonnes, up from slightly below three million the previous year.
In Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s December supply and demand report, it raised the dry pea carryover to 1.57 million tonnes from 1.20 million in November and 489,000 in 2024/25.
