Canada’s government on Monday announced it is imposing a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles that matches U.S. tariffs and follows similar plans announced by the European Commission.
The announcement followed encouragement by U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and cabinet ministers on Sunday. Sullivan is set to make his first visit to Beijing on Tuesday.
Trudeau said Canada also will impose a 25% tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum.
“Actors like China have chosen to give themselves an unfair advantage in the global marketplace,” he said.
THERE IS NO AFFORDABLE ELECTRIC CAR IN CANADA The cheapest electric cars in Canada are ~$40k whereas the cheapest ICE cars are $25K. As much as China is a huge economic problem for the world in general the burden should be on the ruling class who created this problem not the people on the bottom.
A better response would be to stop subsidizing oil and put those billions into the development of affordable electric cars for the North American market. A sedan, minivan, crossover and compact pickup that are under $40k to totally pull the rug out from under Chinese competition. I don’t know anyone who would take a Chinese car even if it was 1/3 the price, they burned their reputation for safety years ago.
edit: a letter
I’m all for a tarrif on imported EVs if we start making affordable domestic ones. Between the carbon tax, affordability crisis,and Canada’s goal of getting rid of ICE, we aren’t helping Canadians by imposing this tarrif. This is clearly pandering to american auto manufacturers who have no interest in competing in the market, instead they beg governments to ban or tax their competition to keep the “free market” healthy.
The plutocrats only want a free market when it serves their immediate interests. Default on their loans? They lobby for a bailout funded by taxpayers, of course. Can’t compete with another country and keep their profit margins high enough to their investors’ liking, they cry for regulation like this right here. The interests of working Canadians are perpetually sacrificed for the plutocrats - grocery, telecomm, oil and gas, real estate/housing, now this
I disagree with the idea there are no affordable EVs in Canada, based on the numbers and purchasing habits of new car buyers anyway. If the average price of a new vehicle in Canada is $66,8XX , and EVs can be had for below that, then for the new car buying market the EVs are affordable, but just not what people want to buy (for whatever reason).
For me, I traded my ICE vehicle for an EV in 2019 and I save money every single month when you add the financing to the price of gas I used to buy. I traded a Mazda 3 Sport for a Chevy Bolt EV, and even though the Mazda was about $15,000 cheaper, and even though it got about 7.7 l/100km real world fuel economy, it is cheaper to drive the EV because ICE operating costs are so much higher.
I was in the market for a second used EV as well, and there are right now recent year model EVs in the mid 20/low 30s for sale. Now these are not large vehicles, but they are affordable especially after operating costs are included. The prices for the most affordable new and used EVs right now are actually at or around the average price for a new and used vehicle in 2019.
I think though, what is really going on with new car buyers, is that people compare a Fiat 500e, or a Chevy Bolt EV, or another small EV, to larger ICE vehicles costing $10 or $15 thousand dollars less and then conflate their desire for the larger vehicle with affordability. The EV is not affordable because I must have a certain ride height, or certain features. They want the larger vehicle, the larger vehicle is cheaper out the door, therefore the EV is not affordable. This is a calculation done without considering fuel economy, changing fuel prices. In reality, they could afford it, just through the shifting of operating costs onto capital costs, but they don’t want it.
I generally agree with you on oil subsidies though.
Just because a car is cheaper than the average new car doesn’t make it affordable. Lots of people can only afford used cars. I’m not suggesting we need new EVs to compete with used car prices, but we need the prices to come down so that the prices of current used EVs become more affordable and/or these cheaper new EVs become affordable when they’re resold in several years.
You make some good points but I don’t agree with them all. I wouldn’t even call a 30k vehicle “affordable”. Also due to the lifestyle some have, it’s not possible to get the smallest vehicle possible. Now you’re looking at 80k+ for one.
The only reason they’re cheap is because of government subsidies back in China and the goal is to eliminate the competition so they can then raise their price and make us dependent on them even more than we already are.
The only reason gasoline cars are “cheap” in Canada are the billions in subsidies that go to petro corps. Canada is playing the same game and China but both countries are fucking Canadians.
Fucking Canadians by creating jobs in Canada instead of letting Chinese workers replace workers in Canada? Welcome to geopolitics! I bet you’re against globalization but since it affects your pockets you’re able to twist your mind in a way that it makes sense to you.
I suggest you look up how many billions the federal government has given to EV battery plants in Canada
So? We’re protecting our own industry
You guys would prefer to see us lose all expertise and have everything made in China and imported to Canada instead? When you lose your job don’t come crying.