The Canadian government is reportedly preparing to introduce new tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, following similar moves from the United States and the European Union.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has faced growing pressure to bring in fresh tariffs since the US in May unveiled plans to quadruple its tariffs on EVs imported from China to 102.5% as the European Union last week said it plans to increase tariffs on certain models of Chinese EVs to 48.1%.
According to a Bloomberg report citing people with knowledge of the matter, Trudeau’s government is preparing potential new tariffs on Chinese EVs to align with the US and the EU.
It reported that while final decisions are yet to be made, public consultations on the proposed tariffs are likely to be announced soon.
Speaking with reporters last month, Trudeau said the government was watching what the US was doing “very closely” but did not commit to matching the tariffs.
On Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford called for the federal government to “immediately match or exceed US tariffs on Chinese imports,” stating that China was “taking every advantage of low labor standards and dirty energy” to flood the market with “artificially cheap electric vehicles.”
“Unless we act fast, we risk Ontario and Canadian jobs,” he wrote in a post on the social media platform X.
I’m calling on the federal government to immediately match or exceed U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, including at least a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles.
Taking every advantage of low labour standards and dirty energy, China is flooding the market with…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) June 20, 2024