Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that Canada will impose a 100 per cent tariff on the import of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs).
Canada’s government said on on August 26, it intends to charge Chinese electric vehicles 100 per cent and Chinese steel and aluminium 25 per cent of their export value.
With the move, Canada has followed in the footsteps of the US and the European Union, which are increasingly hostile towards Chinese EVs and recently announced their own tariffs.
Western countries have accused the Chinese of intentionally dumping EVs at lower prices to flood their markets.
Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland claimed they were challenging alleged unfair commercial practices by Chinese firms.
The PM announced the new levies during a cabinet retreat.
Freeland criticised what she said were Chinese businesses’ attempts to produce a surplus on a worldwide scale.
“Actors like China have chosen to give themselves an unfair advantage in the global marketplace,” Trudeau said at the cabinet meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
As of the start of 2024, US-owned Tesla’s Shanghai-manufactured EVs are the only Chinese-made ones imported into Canada. While some other Chinese EV brands have expressed interest in entering the Canadian market, their presence thus far has remained limited to non-existent.
Canada’s EV imports are still predominantly from non-Chinese manufacturers.
Ahead of the Canadian decision, Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Advisor, spoke to the Canadian cabinet and said: “Canada will make its own determinations. But the US does believe that a united front, a co-ordinated approach on these issues, benefits all of us.”
Sullivan made the surprise stopover in Halifax on August 25 before his trip to China where it has been reported he will discuss Taiwan-related issues and tariffs.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s outgoing High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has warned that a trade war between the EU and China “may be unavoidable.” https://t.co/cJnSo6Mjpe
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 22, 2024
In May, the US announced it would quadruple import tariffs on Chinese EVs, from 25 per cent up to 100 per cent.
Europe has now followed suit: on August 20, the European Commission slapped a 19 per cent tariff on Teslas imported from China. Other EV manufacturers in China may also now be put under a surcharge of up to 36 per cent.
Opponents have contended that, rather than protecting the European auto industry as intended, the action may deepen the European Union’s competitiveness concerns, impede the region’s green transition and intensify trade tensions with China.
In retaliation to recent European tariffs, China has launched several anti-dumping investigations, the latest into EU dairy products.
China has launched an anti-dumping probe into European Union liquor products in another sign that trade relations between both are becoming increasingly bitter. https://t.co/tRwdHHY8Hv
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 5, 2024
