The U.S. is about to slap countervailing duties on fresh mushrooms grown in Canada, as Canadian growers warn of broader risks to the farming sector on both sides of the border.
A U.S. Commerce Department fact sheet released this week and shared with CBC by the Canadian Mushroom Growers' Association says that following an investigation, the U.S. government will be hitting Canadian fresh mushrooms with tariffs of between 1.6 and five per cent.
Countervailing duties are slapped on imports judged to be unfairly subsidized. Similar U.S. investigations have resulted in duties on Canadian softwood lumber for decades.
The Commerce Department launched the investigation in January after being petitioned by U.S. growers who argued that several tax exemptions in Canada mean Canadian mushrooms are unfairly subsidized.
But Ryan Koeslag, executive vice-president of the Canadian Mushroom Growers' Association, says a tax exemption is an "unprecedented" justification for countervailing duties, given that farm products on both sides of the border benefit from such exemptions.
"It's a very normal practice. Countries all around the world have agricultural tax exemptions, and the United States is included in that," Koeslag told CBC News...
This was excerpted from the 14 May 2026 edition of CBC News.