When trade negotiations between Canada and the United States broke off Aug. 19, mere weeks before Rosh Hashanah, Prime Minister Mark Carney described the situation as being “at war”. Farmers are now finding themselves caught in the crosshairs; among them are Jewish producers of festive staples this upcoming High Holidays season: milk and honey.
Canadian milk products and natural honey are among the $28 billion of exports now subject to a new 50 per cent American import tariff. On our side of the border, on Aug. 25, Canada announced it will follow up with dollar-for-dollar tariffs, charging American milk and honey producers exactly the same extra dues in reverse, effective Sept. 8.
Natural raw honey producer Yoav Sasportas is directly affected by all of this. His company, Urban Dvash—which manages hives of 10 million honey bees throughout the Montreal area—exports some honey to customers south of the border. Sasportas admits he’s already scaled back expansion plans. Despite this, he says Canada should go further and bar all foreign honey from coming into our country—and foreign live bee imports, too.
Meanwhile, 600 km away, on their historic dairy farm west of Hamilton, Ont., the Loewith family is also feeling the pinch. They don’t sell milk outside of Canada, but their business is facing rising prices for equipment and flavourings.
But both the farm families firmly support Canada’s tough stance against U.S. President Donald Trump in the renewed cross-border trade war, even if it will bring pain and layoffs in many sectors of the Canadian economy—including theirs.
On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner learns about the Jewish front of this tariff war from Dave Loewith and his nephew Ben Loewith, and from Yoav Sasportas, who is deep in the middle of his annual honey harvest, right before the Jewish New Year.
Related links
- Learn more about Yoav Sasportas and his wife Dana Sitbon, who run Urban Dvash and find out where to access their kosher honey and bee-related products in Montreal.
- Find out more about the historic Loewith’s dairy farm Summitholm Holsteins (Joe Loewith and Sons) and their milk and cheese products, or visit their retail store near Hamilton, Ont.
- Read how Canadian kosher food distributor Altra Foods in Montreal was preparing to weather the earlier tariffs storm in April 2025, in The CJN.
Credits
- Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )
- Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video editor),l Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)
- Music: Bret Higgins
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