Ontario's vegetable growers are concerned over threat of tariffs being imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The organization says over 85 per cent of the produce grown in Ontario is destined for the United States each year. That equates to 475 million kilograms, worth $1.6 billion.
Speaking on AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides, Richard Lee, executive director, Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers says this ultimately will lead to increased costs for the end consumer, which are Americans.
"We have approximately 4,100 acres of greenhouse across Ontario that grow cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers," he said. "80 per cent of that is located right here in Windsor and Essex County, and that's strategic based on our location."
He says impacts of the tariffs will be challenging to manage long term.
"We have been communicating with our retailers and ensuring that they can pass those tariffs at additional costs off to the end consumer," Lee said. "There's no way that the current supply would chain would be able to absorb those costs. The margins just aren't there."
He says they would be able to sustain a short period of tariffs.
"Anything that goes beyond two, three weeks, will result in decrease in demand, and probably see that some of this product will stay here in Canada," said Lee. "We do not have the population to able to consume the amount of vegetables we grow here in Ontario."
Lee says upwards of 35,000 jobs are dependent on the supply of Ontario-made produce crossing the border each day.