The fight to ensure Ottawa maintains its hefty tariff on all Chinese-made electric vehicles continues for some auto industry players.
A CTV News article highlighted the comments of Flavio Volpe, President of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association in Canada; he is warning the federal government against doing away with the tariffs even as some provincial governments want them removed as a way to have Beijing lower its levy on Canola oil and pork.
“These Chinese EVs are not made for profit, they are subsidized,” said Volpe in a CTV News article. He also argued that the vehicles are “dumped around the world” with the goal of flooding markets and suppressing local competition.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is one of the provincial leaders hoping Ottawa will scrap the 100 per cent tariff on Chinese EVs so China can lift its tariffs on Canadian canola and pork, according to CBC News.
“Kinew says in a letter to Mark Carney on Saturday that while he believes protecting Canada’s vehicle industry is important, he says the country’s approach ‘has created a two-front trade war that disproportionally affects Western Canada.’”
While Volpe is aiming to maintain full tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, The Conversation offered another angle: that although the rationale behind the Chinese incentives has some basis, “it is highly overstated.”
“The European Union’s in-depth investigation into Chinese support for the EV industry revealed company-specific subsidy levels, ranging from 7.8 per cent for Tesla Shanghai to 35.3 per cent for the SAIC Group, which subsequently became the basis for imposing countervailing duties.”
They said the idea from Ottawa to potentially scrap the Chinese EV tariffs is “a recognition that the policy may now be outdated.”
