Canada’s canola industry is facing steep losses and urging Ottawa to compensate farmers after Beijing announced a 75.8-per-cent preliminary duty on Canadian canola seed.

The Tuesday morning announcement comes toward the end of a one-year anti-dumping probe launched by China in September. Canada’s agricultural sector has benefited from extensive government subsidies and preferential policies that distort markets, said an announcement from China’s Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday.

But Beijing’s actions are not about dumping and effectively cut off Canada’s most lucrative crop from one of its most important markets weeks before harvest, say many in the sector.

Canadian canola is exported in accordance with rules based trade and fair market access, said Chris Davidson, President of Canola Council of Canada. Beijing’s tariffs are instead a “political issue that needs a political resolution,” he said.