Certainly one of Israel’s high financial officers needs to impose tariffs of as much as 165% on medical marijuana imported from Canada.
Nir Barkat, the minister of economic system and trade, proposed retaining the so-called “dumping tax” in pressure for 4 years in an effort to bolster home suppliers and mitigate unfair competitors, based on Israeli enterprise publication Calcalist.
Dumping taxes are sometimes levied on overseas corporations that promote merchandise considerably beneath the value bought of their nation of origin.
Breakdown of proposed tariff charges
The tax, which have to be permitted by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich inside 14 days after which the Knesset Finance Committee, would levy the next charges on a few of Canada’s largest medical marijuana exporters, together with:
Tilray Manufacturers, 70%.
Organigram International, 53%.
Village Farms Worldwide, 28%.
Decibel Hashish Co., 12%.
A 165% obligation can be levied on all different Canadian suppliers, Calcalist reported.
Tilray, which has places of work in Leamington, Ontario, and New York, declined an MJBizDaily request for remark.
A number of days earlier than the Israel’s tariff plan got here to mild, Tilray famous in its February quarterly earnings report that an evaluation of potential implications confirmed that “tariffs mustn’t affect gross sales.”
Organigram, Village Farms and Decibel didn’t instantly reply to MJBizDaily inquiries for remark.
‘Motion will burden Israeli medical sufferers’
Mike Gorenstein, CEO of Toronto-based Canadian hashish producer Cronos Group, blasted the proposal.
“This motion will severely burden Israeli medical sufferers by elevating prices and limiting entry to important therapies,” he instructed MJBizDaily through e mail.
“Regardless of submitting clear proof disproving dumping allegations, which confirmed our pricing aligns with honest market worth, the Commerce Commissioner ignored the info.”
The tariffs, he added, violate the spirit of the Canada-Israel Free Commerce Settlement (CIFTA), established in 1997.
An amended commerce pact between the 2 nations, negotiated roughly a decade later, additional eliminated or lowered tariffs on agricultural, agri-food and fisheries merchandise.
“We urge the Israeli authorities to rethink this determination, interact in constructive dialogue, and uphold honest competitors,” Gorenstein stated.
“Cronos stays dedicated to supplying high-quality hashish and advocating for equitable commerce practices that defend each sufferers and producers.”
Israel’s earlier considerations about Canada
In January 2024, MJBizDaily reported that the commissioner of Israel’s Commerce Levies Unit opened an “anti-dumping” investigation regarding medical marijuana imports from Canada after discovering “a causal hyperlink” between the imports and “harm” to Israel’s native hashish trade.
As a part of that investigation, 10 corporations – together with Tilray, Organigram, Village Farms, Decibel and Cronos – have been required to submit “data, proof and their arguments,” in addition to reply a prolonged questionnaire.
In fiscal 2023, Israel imported roughly 21,000 kilograms (21 metric tons) of hashish from Canada for industrial and scientific use, based on regulator Well being Canada.
In the meantime, U.S. plant-touching and ancillary hashish corporations are scrambling to mitigate prices and fallout from President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff mandates, that are disrupting the trade’s world provide chain and fueling extra financial uncertainty.
Chris Casacchia may be reached at chris.casacchia@mjbizdaily.com.
