Israel imposes high tariffs against Canadian cannabis – MEDCAN24

Israel announced steep tariffs against Canadian imports of cannabis.

According to reports, Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry plans to charge up to 165% in tariffs on Canadian cannabis for the next 4 years. StratCann. After allegations of “product-dumping” on the Israeli market for medical cannabis, Israel’s Finance Committee, as well as its Finance Minister must approve this decision.

“Following the economic investigation I led, which found that cannabis is being imported from Canada at dumping prices causing significant damage to the local industry, and following the recommendation of the advisory committee that approved the findings of the investigation, the Minister of Economy decided to impose an anti-dumping duty on cannabis imports from Canada,” Dany Tal, director of import administration & commissioner of anti-dumping measures at Israel’s Ministry of Economy, said in a Thursday LinkedIn post.

After a long investigation, the Israeli government decided to impose tariffs. The process began in July 2024 with a report that proposed tariffs ranging from 63% up to 369%. A final report was issued in November 2024 and suggested rates of as much as 175%. Israel’s Ministry of Health, however, opposed this option. Ran Ridnik expressed his displeasure at both the rates proposed and the method used to calculate them.

Final tariffs differ significantly between companies.

• Decibel (12%)
• Village Farms (28%)
• Organigram (53%).
• Tilray (70%)
• The duty rate for the majority of other Canadian products is 165%.

Adam Coates is the chief revenue officer of Decibel Cannabis. StratCann The lower duty rate is a result of their cooperative attitude with authorities.

Other Canadian producers have expressed their frustration at the decision.

Mark McKay said, “We still believe that the methodology and interpretations used in the investigation were severely flawed. There is no basis on which to place tariffs against our company.” Mark McKay was the Director of Communications for Organigram. The appropriate amount of tariff for Organigram should be zero.

Mike Gorenstein is the CEO of Cronos. Cronos has a large business presence in Israel and local production.

“Inventing arbitrarily formulas for tariffs is bad both for the patients and for consumers,” he stated. I would have believed we only learned this in the past week.

Israel, Australia, Germany and the U.K. are among the top export destinations for Canadian cannabis producers.