Canada mulls Chinese EV tariff following U.S. move

By Canadian Press

May 26, 2024 | 12:48 PM

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his trade and industry ministers say Canada is investigating the notion of hiking tariffs on imported electric vehicles from China following a massive tax hike by the Americans earlier this month.

Chinese brands are not a major player in Canada’s EV market but imports from China have exploded in the last year as Tesla switched from U.S. factories for its Canadian sales to it’s manufacturing plant in Shanghai.

In 2022 Canada trade data shows $84 million in imports of electric-only vehicles from China and in 2023 that soared to $2.2 billion.

President Joe Biden is quadrupling import taxes on Chinese-made EVs to 100 per cent this year because of what he called unfair subsidies for Chinese EV makers by the Chinese government.