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Mark Magnier

Finbarr Bermingham

Canada announced plans on Monday to impose new tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, aluminium and steel in a bid to align its trading system with allies working to protect domestic manufacturers.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government would impose 100 per cent import taxes on electric vehicles effective October 1, and 25 per cent levies on aluminium and steel effective October 15.
“Actors like China have chosen to give themselves an unfair advantage in the global marketplace,” Trudeau said at a meeting on the economy and foreign policy in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The move comes as major trading nations in North America, Asia and Europe, among others, express concern that Beijing is trying to export its way out of its own economic difficulties by shipping goods overseas at fire-sale prices.


In June, Trudeau’s government initiated a 30-day consultation period on the proposed tariffs. Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has called Chinese policies a strategy by Chinese companies that would create excess capacity worldwide and undermine the Canadian EV industry.
“I think we all know that China is not playing by the same rules,” Trudeau said. “What is important about this is we’re doing it in alignment and in parallel with other economies around the world.”
Canada’s actions follow moves by the United States and the European Union to impose similarly high import tariffs on Chinese EVs.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan reportedly encouraged Canada on Sunday to follow suit during a meeting with Trudeau and cabinet ministers at the Halifax retreat.

Sullivan’s Canada stop came just ahead of a trip this week to Beijing where he is expected to discuss Taiwan and China’s support for the Russian war effort during a meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Chinese leaders are also expected to raise tariff issues, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The United States is set to disclose final plans this week for steep tariff increases US President Joe Biden first announced in May, though some analysts say the planned duties might be softened.
“For years the Chinese government has poured state money to Chinese companies across a whole range of industries … pushing Chinese companies to produce far more than the rest of the world can absorb,” Biden said at the time. “The future of electric vehicles will be made in America by union workers.”
The EU has also announced proposed new tariffs on electric vehicles from China, although at lower levels than what the US and Canada are proposing.
Products by the China-based SAIC Motor Corporation face additional duties of 36.3 per cent, while Geely Automobile Holdings and BYD Company each face tariffs of 19.3 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, according to a draft decision released earlier this month. Tesla Inc will see a 9 per cent added charge on its vehicles made in China.
Canada only imports EVs made in Tesla’s Shanghai factory, not Chinese-branded vehicles.
Freeland has voiced support for an integrated allied approach to Chinese oversupply and pledged that Canada would not become a dumping ground for underpriced Chinese exports.


Chinese firms can sell EVs for as little as US$10,000 to US$12,000 while China’s solar cell plants, steel and aluminium mills have enough capacity to meet much of the world’s demand.
China’s embassy in Canada on Tuesday raised “strong dissatisfaction” with Ottawa’s plan terming it “typical trade protectionism and [a] politically-motivated decision”.
“It will damage trade and economic cooperation between China and Canada, hurt the interests of Canadian consumers and enterprises [and] slow down the green transition process of Canada,” the embassy said in a statement on its website.
A working paper by the International Monetary Fund released on Monday found that China’s industrial subsidies have helped boost its exports, even as they suppressed imports of equivalent products from advanced markets.
“China is the largest user of subsidies measured by the number of policy interventions. By 2022 there were approximately 5,400 subsidy policies introduced since 2009 and in force in China,” the IMF report stated.
The authors found the subsidies to be highly concentrated over the 13-year period, with 20 per cent of the sectors receiving more than half of the subsidies, specifically hi-tech goods like solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles during the second half of the period.
Chinese exports of subsidised products to other Group of 20 countries were 2.1 per cent higher after the subsidy, the IMF found. For those within the electrical machinery sector, they were over three times that amount.
The report is likely to fuel Western arguments that China is trying to become more self-sufficient even as it grabs a bigger share of global value chains.
Last year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused Beijing of making “China less dependent on the world and the world more dependent on China”.
In some industries – including metals, autos and furniture products – Beijing’s subsidies reportedly boosted export volumes while lowering prices, fuelling more criticism of Chinese mercantilism.
But for other controversial items like lithium batteries and solar panels, direct subsidies saw export prices and quantities both rise, the paper found.


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Canada to impose 100% tariffs on China-made EVs, 25% levy on steel, aluminium, matching US

Canada’s government is imposing a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese-made EVs that matches US tariffs. Photo: AP

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country would impose a 100 per cent tariff on the import of Chinese electric vehicles. Photo: AP

Canada’s government plans to impose a 100 per cent tariff on imports of Chinese-made EVs. Photo: AP

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The American and Chinese flags. The US said on Tuesday that tariffs on Chinese imports will be delayed by at least two weeks. Photo: AP

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China’s electric vehicle firms are expanding their global presence as the green transition drives demand. Photo: EPA-EFE

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United States & Canada

‘We all know that China is not playing by the same rules,’ Canadian PM Justin Trudeau says of plan to shield domestic industries


‘We all know that China is not playing by the same rules,’ Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says of plan to shield domestic industries in alignment with US and EU.
