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Good news for Canadian farmers today: Canadian pork and beef exports to China will resume. Thanks to Ambassador Barton and the Canadian meat industry for their work on re-opening this important market for our meat producers and their families. — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 5, 2019

China had suspended imports in June, saying its customs inspectors detected residue from a restricted feed additive in a batch of Canadian pork products. A subsequent investigation found forged veterinary health certificates attached to the batch, which led to an RCMP investigation.

But the suspension also came at a challenging time in Canada-China relations following Canada’s detention late last year of a top executive at the Chinese tech company Huawei, and the subsequent arrest of two Canadians in Beijing — a move that’s been widely seen as retaliation for the December arrest of Meng Wanzhou.

In September, the Canadian Meat Council added up the financial cost of the suspension to Canadian industry, pegging it at close to $100 million.

On Tuesday, they heralded the resumption of trade as good news.

“Our long-standing trade relationship with China is very important to both sides and this represents an important step for both countries,” Chris White, president of the Canadian Meat Council, said in a statement.

Both White and Trudeau extended particular thanks to Canada’s new ambassador to China, Dominic Barton, who became Trudeau’s envoy to China in September, just prior to the start of the federal election campaign.