A plan to protect the electric vehicle supply chain in Canada from China’s unfair practices is moving ahead.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland met with business leaders and representatives from the steel sector on July 23 to discuss the unfair Chinese trade practices around EVs. The meeting, closed to the media, took place at noon in Hamilton, Ont.
It was part of the federal government’s ongoing consultations regarding potential policy responses and was one of many meetings around this topic this month. Freeland also met with Canadian labour leaders, as well as business leaders and representatives from the aluminum sector, on July 22.
The plan to launch these consultations was announced towards the end of June. Freeland said in a statement that the Canadian auto sector and its workers are facing an “intentional, state-directed policy of overcapacity, undermining the Canadian EV sector’s ability to compete in domestic and global markets.”
She also said the consultation will help Canada take action to protect workers, level the playing field, and “prevent transshipment or oversupply from China’s anti-competitive practices.”
The consultations also aim to include comments on cyber and data security around protecting privacy and national security interests in Canada. More information on the 30-day consultation, which ends Aug. 1, is available here.
