Canada should follow the United States in imposing tariffs on electric vehicles and their components produced in China, the Conservatives say.
“We want jobs for our workers, on our land, under our flag,” Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, said Friday at a news conference at an Ontario steel mill.
Mr. Poilievre ruled that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is “putting hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk” in the steel, aluminum, mining and auto manufacturing sectors “by allowing Beijing to flood our markets with electric vehicles and other products made in China at artificially low prices.”
Not only that, the Liberal government “favors foreign dictatorships” since the discounts on the purchase of an electric vehicle are also valid when it is manufactured in China.
“This is ridiculous! It doesn’t make sense,” he protested.
Mr. Poilievre is proposing, among other things, to impose 100% tariffs on vehicles manufactured in China and entering Canada, 50% on semiconductors and solar cells, and 25% on steel and aluminum products, graphite and other essential minerals.
He also wants Ottawa to stop giving rebates on electric vehicles made in China.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office did not respond to a request for comment from The Canadian Press at the time of publication.
At the end of June, Mme Freeland had announced the launch of a process to impose new import taxes on electric vehicles made in China and accused Beijing of having “intentionally created overcapacity and excess supply.”
The decision came weeks after the United States and the European Commission decided to impose their own new import duties on Chinese electric vehicles, citing unfair subsidies aimed at replacing more expensive vehicles made in Europe and North America.