The federal government is not considering dropping tariffs it imposed last year on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), steel and aluminum, despite Beijing’s retaliation and U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a trade war with Canada, according to the industry minister.
Ottawa imposed a 100 per cent import tax on Chinese EVs and a 25 per cent import tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum last October. Beijing retaliated over the weekend by imposing nearly $4 billion in tariffs on Canadian agricultural products, including canola oil and pork.
"We’re going to stand strong,” said Francois-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry, in an interview with Vassy Kapelos on CTV News Channel’s Power Play. “We want to protect our industry. We want to protect our workers. We want to protect our communities.”
The federal government, following the lead of then-U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, imposed a 100 per cent import tax on EVs produced in China in October of last year, accusing Beijing of “distorting global trade” by exporting EVs at “unfairly low prices.”
Ottawa also imposed a 25 per cent import tax on Chinese-made steel and aluminum last October, accusing China of “pervasive subsidization” of its steel and aluminum industry.
In the wake of Trump’s decision to launch a trade war with Canada and China’s decision to impose new tariffs on Canadian products, B.C. Premier David Eby urged the federal government to rethink its tariff policy with all countries, including China.
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China produces 300% of the existing market of EVs as it stands, and the government is trying to further increase production. The manufacturers have been found to dump finished EVs into fields by the hundreds to claim the government benefits.
Their actions are dumping in the literal sense, and is illegal when it comes to international trade, so there is no reason to withdraw such tariffs until they stop overproducing at the minimum.
Not to mention that Chinese EVs spontaneously combust for the most bizarre reasons and have caused countless problems, like the e-bike that spontaneously combusted in Toronto’s subway due to it “not rated for cold weather,” or the container ship that caught fire because of a Chinese EV started a runaway reaction inside of a container, or the countless videos of Chinese EVs catching fire while parked in China itself.
Keep it as one of the options against US if Trump keeps escalating Tariffs
Regardless of what they are going to do, now seems like the time to publicly muse “we are reconsidering these tariffs, since the US is unreliable at the moment”.
Play the same game as Trump: make stupid statements and see what falls out.
To what end? All that will do is increase volatility, discourage investment and tank the stock market.
It’s a bargaining chip against the US: the more trade Canada has with the rest of the world, the less reliant we are on them. It would also shrink the market for US vehicles. Saying we’ll keep the tariff is an easy concession to give in the trade war.
So we will continue with our current sugar daddy even though he beats us?
Not doing things he’s accidentally right about would be an overcorrection.
The tariffs on Chinese EVs where not Trump.
That’s also true. It wasn’t his idea, it’s just something he’s gone along with, even.
Nothing shows true commitment to fighting climate change/global warming like blocking affordable electric vehicles and the solar panels to charge them, while giving billions to oil companies for more pipelines and sending the RCMP to terrorize land and water defenders.
The oligarchs are incinerating the planet for greed and Canada is complicit.
I think the argument is to protect Canadian jobs and the billions they’ve invested in EV production here. Which would totally disappear since Chinese EVs are so cheap due to the CCP direct funding to it making the market here non competitive. I just don’t see the oligarch argument here.
. I just don’t see the oligarch argument here.
I guess you skipped the part about funding pipelines and hounding protesters with the RCMP, both benefiting the oligarchs in big oil.
I mean, it’s kind of a non-sequitur here, on the subject of Chinese EVs.
Nothing happens in a vacuum, driving down the accessibility and affordability of EVs increases and prolongs the demand for petroleum, which is incinerating the planet to serve the greed of the oligarchs. If you can’t or won’t see the connection, “ignorance is strength” as they say.
China set for rapeseed meal shortage after 100% duty on top supplier Canada
China is likely to face a supply shortage of rapeseed meal by the third quarter of this year as Beijing’s tariffs on shipments from top exporter Canada disrupt trade and as alternative sources are unlikely to make up the deficit […]
Rapeseed is an oilseed crop which is processed into oil for cooking and a variety of other products, including renewable fuels, while the remaining rapeseed meal is used as high-protein animal feed and fertilizer […]
China relies on top grower Canada for more than 70% of its rapeseed meal imports and nearly all of the oilseed imports. Rapeseed is also known as canola […]
Saskatchewan’s DUI hire is going to have a hissy fit about this he is so mad about the Chinese tariff. In fact he is so mad that he will do nothing except maybe go on vacation down in the US or party with some people in Texas.
Or he will wait for Smith to tell him what to do.
No one wants and needs ‘affordable’ EVs made with slavery-like labour.
Totally agree.
I really want a BYD dolphin actually. Would be cool to re-tool all the car part factories that will be empty cause the US companies are leaving - to EVs
Yeah. If BYD wants to take over a car plant or something, I’m sure something could be worked out.
It would almost certainly end up costing as much as a domestic EV already does. Cheap Chinese labour and government subsidies are what makes them so competitive.
What ‘domestic ev’s do we even have?
It looks like it’s just the Dodge Charger Daytona that’s pure electric at the moment. There’s several plug-in hybrids, though, and I assume a lot of Canadian parts in every “legacy” manufacturer American or Mexican EV. (Also the Arrow concept car, but that doesn’t really count)
And the pure electric version of that car is getting an ICE version (which I suspect will be the actual volume version of the car)
Quite possible. The Charger is an old established brand as an ICE vehicle.
I see I actually missed the Chevrolet BrightDrop.
Do we really need Chinese EVs though? Both Kia and Hyundai, for example, make good EVs at a good price. Im not sure I would trust a Chinese made EV. Maybe thats a bias but do they meet Canadian standards?
To be sold here, they would have to meet all Canadian safety standards. This is a non-issue. Lots of vehicles sold here are, or have been built in China. The Honda Fit is a notable example. Plus, China makes many components and complex assemblies for most cars built these days, even for the high end “luxury” brands.
I have a Hyundai EV and I love it. It’s a fantastic vehicle.
But also, the Chinese EVs are extremely cheap relative to these. If they are trustworthy or safe or good is open to interpretation but they have been extremely popular in Australia for example.
My concern is that we’re antagonizing a potential trade ally to protect a domestic industry which feels to me like it cannot thrive in the medium and long-term. It relies too much on the Americans and they have been unreliable and chaotic which is bad for an integrated production system.
China is selling these at cost or lower to put competitors out of business. They deserve to be tariffed. There are also reports of forced labor being used to build these. Wouldn’t want to drive something made that way.
These types of claims are incredibly difficult for a layperson to evaluate. There are at least two explanations for charging very little profit as is suggested BYD and similar companies are doing now.
Incumbent monopolists will absolutely use prices to bully competition out of the market so they can enjoy a longer period without pricing pressure later. This has been well documented across many industries. However it’s also a normal occurrence where a disrupting upstart will apply a low profit margin or even operate at a loss in order to build market share and achieve higher efficiencies of scale.
I am at least mildly concerned that the Chinese EVs seem better fit the mold of the disrupting upstarts, and not that of the incumbent monopolists. If they are serving a lower-price-point aspect of the EV market that the traditional manufacturers are not filling – that is a good thing. This is a role that many of the brands now considered mainstream once filled when they were newer to the western markets.
However, your points towards forced labour are absolutely on point. This is a greater issue that affects all trade with China, and it’s one that we have largely been ignoring for a long time. Every time we buy something made there with it’s unknown providence, we are participating in a system that must be described as evil. I wouldn’t want to drive one either.
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