With Canada’s prime minister in China this week on a trade mission, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is doubling down on his plea to Mark Carney: do not remove tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
Speaking at Queen’s Park Tuesday alongside state representatives from Michigan, Ford said he is “very concerned” about a possible rollback of tariffs that would allow the Chinese government to “dump cheap Chinese parts and cheap vehicles here, at cost to Canadian and American jobs.”
“I am absolutely, 100 per cent dead against this,” Ford said.
“It would not be good for Ontario and Canada, and it sure the heck wouldn’t be good for the U.S. — and it wouldn’t be good when it comes to negotiating with president Trump.”
Canada opened a trade irritant with China in recent years as the government, in lockstep with then-U.S. president Joe Biden, slapped a 100 per cent tariff on EVs — arguing the measure was required to protect Canada’s domestic automobile industry.
China retaliated by slapping tariffs on canola, seafood and pork. Ottawa has since been under pressure, notably by Prairie premiers, to lift those duties to provide relief for Canadian farmers, producers and harvesters.
Carney’s arrival in China will be the first time a prime minister has visited the country since 2017. His trip has broad goals of elevating “engagement on trade, energy, agriculture, and international security,” according to his office, as he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is joining Carney on the trip, with a goal of addressing Chinese tariffs on canola.
‘We can’t back down,’ Ford says as Carney faces pressure to end China EV tariffs
Ford said Tuesday that he fully understands Moe’s standpoint for negotiations as he is “protecting Saskatchewan,” but added that it is his job to protect Ontario and its auto industry.
The premier also said that his standpoint would be different if a Chinese manufacturer opened a plant in Ontario and invested in the province.
Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, echoed that sentiment in an interview on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning Tuesday.
“If they’re willing to invest here and then buy Canadian supplies and raw materials and employ Canadian workers, well then they become Canadian cars too,” Volpe said.
He also said it’s important for Canada to recast its relationship with China in the wake of the “new world” brought about by U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, but maintained that Carney should “approach with caution.”
“Yes, agricultural workers … absolutely deserve the prime minister to go over there with an open mind and negotiate, but we remind him all the things that were true two years ago are still true today,” Volpe said.
Last year China’s ambassador to Canada suggested the Chinese electric-vehicle giant BYD has been interested in investing in Canada.
Wang Di told the Globe and Mail BYD “had carefully thought about coming to Canada to make investment” but “met huge difficulties, restrictions and obstruction and they had to give up.”
He told the newspaper in March the electric vehicle manufacturer’s presence in Canada would have provided Canadians with “good-quality” and less-expensive electric vehicles.
