| Short Title: | Duties on Wheat, etc. Act 1843 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Year: | 1843 |
| Citation: | 6 & 7 Vict. c. 29 |
The Canada Corn Act was passed in 1843 by the British Parliament and allowed Canadian grains (then referred to as corn) to enter the British market at reduced duties.[1] The act was repealed in 1846.
British passage of the Importation Act 1815 – the Corn Law – impacted the market for Canadian grains by restricting their importation into Britain, despite the fact Canada was part of the British Empire.[2]
The 1843 act was enacted to provide some relief to grain farmers in Upper Canada, by reducing the duty of Canada wheat imported into Britain to (a nominal) 1 shilling a quarter.[3]
The reduced tariff led to increasingly profitable shipping through the St. Lawrence route.[4] To attract business for shipping businesses in the United States, the American government responded by allowing Canadian grain bound for Britain to pass through the Erie Canal without import duties.[5]
The Act allowed for the importation to the UK of Canadian grain, be it processed or not. Accordingly, a trade sprung up in American grain, shipped to Canada for milling, and then on to the UK. This impetus caused a boom in the Canadian flour-milling industry.
After a short time, the advantages to Canada of the Corn Act were undone when British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel moved Britain towards free trade. A shortage of food caused by the Great Famine of Ireland created the need for cheap imported grain,[6] and the act was repealed in 1846.[7]
This was seen at the time as blow to Canada by abolition of the (effective) imperial preference the act had created;[8] the impact of the repeal to grain exports in practice, in the later 1840s and 1850s, remains a subject of historical debate.