(Halifax) It is important for Canada to protect a sector of the economy in which it has invested heavily, despite potential retaliation from China, Treasury Board President Anita Anand said Tuesday, responding to threats made by the Chinese ambassador in an interview with The Press.
“First, electric vehicles are a very important sector of our economy and we have seen that we have made a lot of investments in this sector,” she responded at a press briefing.
Justin Trudeau’s cabinet ministers are meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, ahead of the resumption of Parliament on September 16.
“This is important when we want to have a country and a world where we can recognize that climate change is a reality,” she added.
China’s new ambassador to Canada, Wang Di, said his country will take “firm and necessary measures to protect the rights and interests of Chinese companies” in an editorial interview with The Press Monday.
“China will obviously take firm and necessary measures to protect the rights and interests of Chinese companies,” said Ambassador Wang Di, who took office three months ago.
Canada followed the United States yesterday by imposing 100% tariffs on electric vehicles built in China – an import tax that will reach 106.1% on March 1.er October, since it will be added to the most-favored-nation tariff of 6.1% that currently applies. In other words, the price of the vehicle will double.
This comes with 25% tariffs on Chinese aluminum and steel starting October 15 and potential taxes on products like microchips and solar cells.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce was among the organizations that had called on the government to align with the United States on this issue. It was “fundamental” to do so given the integration of production chains in the auto industry, according to the Canadian Vehicles Manufacturers Association (CVMA), which welcomed the decision.
The government says China is engaging in unfair practices by unduly subsidizing its automakers, which then sell electric vehicles at lower prices than those produced in North America. Experts worry that consumers will have fewer affordable options for going electric.
But other sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, could suffer. China had already imposed restrictions on Canadian canola in 2019 following the arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer. It had also suspended imports of Canadian pork.
“It is certain that we are worried about reprisals that China could decree on our products,” acknowledged the general director of the Union des producteurs agricoles du Québec (UPA), Charles-Félix Ross.
Is it worth forcing other parts of the economy to be sacrificed by imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles?
“At this point, we have nothing else to say about it,” said Mr.me Anand: But of course, we continue to look at all sectors of our economy to see where we can achieve economic benefits for our country.”
Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly both stressed Monday that the decision to impose tariffs was made in the national interest.me Joly added that the government wanted to “protect the electric vehicle supply chain in Canada and, of course, in North America.”
With Mélanie Marquis and Julien Arsenault, The Press
Ottawa wants to boost productivity
Interprovincial trade barriers, red tape, regulatory irritants at the Canada-U.S. border… The Trudeau government wants to increase productivity to grow the Canadian economy. “Despite very strong economic indicators, we have work to do to examine the causes of the low productivity rate and [évaluer] “How we can grow the economy,” Treasury Board President Anita Anand said in a press briefing Monday. She announced the immediate establishment of a task force to address barriers that hinder productivity in both the public and private sectors. She will also meet with provincial economic ministers alongside the minister of intergovernmental affairs next month to address barriers to interprovincial trade. Quebec has the highest number of such barriers, according to the Montreal Economic Institute. The right-wing think tank has identified 35 exceptions to the 2017 Canadian Free Trade Agreement as of 2023. She will also meet with her American counterpart next week as part of negotiations at the Canada-U.S. Regulatory Cooperation Council to address regulatory irritants at the border.