Mexico is a key market for us. We export a lot of canola seed and canola oil there because we've had tariff-free, stable access to Mexico with NAFTA, which hasn't been the case with Colombia, for example. With Colombia, we have exported significant amounts and this tariff has had real impacts on our ability to export.
For example, our exports fell by 75% between 2016 and 2017 because of this tariff and how it affected our exports. The Colombia market is not the same size as the United States or Mexico. For our value-added processors that are selling bottled product that takes more effort to do in Canada, any market that they can sell to is very important to keep those facilities and those jobs operating.
Our exports have been approximately $10 million to Colombia around canola oil and we see an opportunity to grow. For example, they import anywhere between $3 million and $500 million of oil every year and we only get a very small portion of that, partially because of the unpredictability of this tariff to us.
The other thing that I would add is that in terms of integration, we actually grow a lot of our Canadian seed in the off-season. Right now, it's growing in Chile, and then we'll come back up here to Canada, and it will be growing in Canadian farmers' fields. We do have a complementary relationship but unfortunately this tariff does prevent us from seizing the opportunity in Colombia.