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BLOOMFIELD, P.E.I. —

China’s retaliation against Canada for detaining Huawei vice-president Meng Wanzhou might not stop at canola, a food policy expert is warning.

China recently closed its borders to Canadian canola seed, but Sylvain Charlebois, who is a senior director of the agri-food analytics lab and a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University, is suggesting China could choose to target other imports from Canada, including lobster.

In a recent opinion piece, Charlebois says Chinese markets for such Canadian commodities as beef, pork, soybeans and lobster could be in danger.

Such talk is worrisome enough to David Lewis, co-chairman of the P.E.I. Lobster Advisory Committee, that he says he doesn’t even want to think about it.

“The Chinese market is one that’s growing for us, and we’ve been increasing production every year,” Lewis said. “It would be a major impact if we were to lose that market.”

With Canada hoping to build on its seafood sales to China, Lewis said he’s hoping Canadian lobster can stay off of China’s trade sanctions radar.

Charlebois says the whole international incident could have been avoided had Canada simply used a little bit of diplomacy.

Canada detained the Huawei executive on Dec. 1 at the request of the Americans. Canada wasn’t even her destination, Charlebois notes.

Meng Wanzhou was on a stopover in Vancouver en route from Hong Kong to Mexico when Canadian authorities detained her.

“My take on this is that someone should’ve made a phone call to Beijing before she actually came to Canada.

“That’s what diplomacy is, to prevent an embarrassing situation from happening. We’d just say, ‘Listen, if you come, we have to arrest you. So, don’t.’”

“They are 1.4 billion people; we’re 37 million. How can we possibly get tough with one of the largest economies in the world? The economics of this situation are against us, absolutely, and we need to keep this in mind.” - Sylvain Charlebois

Charlebois notes that Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe wants Ottawa to retaliate over the trade sanction on canola, but he feels retaliation would be futile.

“They are 1.4 billion people; we’re 37 million. How can we possibly get tough with one of the largest economies in the world?

“The economics of this situation are against us, absolutely, and we need to keep this in mind.”

It doesn’t matter that Meng Wanzhou was detained at the American’s request, Charlebois said. It was Canada that carried out the deed and it is Canada that’s paying the price through market losses.

He anticipates efforts by China to resolve its trade issues with the U.S., and if that happens, it could lead to bigger problems for Canada.

“If that’s the case, American goods will become more attractive than they are now. You could see, potentially, China decide to restrict trade for more commodities because they could actually have access to some US commodities.”

He notes Canadian lobster sales to China have increased, at least in part, because of tariffs on American lobster.

Charlebois said he can’t predict how long the tense situation between Canada and China will last.

“Just a change in government could actually change the tone between the two countries,” he said.