Canada goes too far: 100% tariffs on Chinese electric cars

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces new taxes on imports of vehicles made in China: 'Beijing does not respect the rules'

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Photo by: Wikimedia

By: Riccardo Ciriaco

Published by: Brian Potter

Aug 27, 2024 at 3:19am ET

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Canada is like Europe and, most of all, the United States as the Ottawa government is also preparing tariffs on imports of electric cars and other products made in China. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who spoke of a new tariff on Chinese electric vehicles equal to 100 per cent of their value, a sum that would effectively double the prices of cars produced in China, with the aim of reducing their market share.

The report is from the Reuters news agency, which - in a few lines of the article - also speaks of another tax on the way, this time on Chinese steel and aluminium, which will entail an additional outlay of 25% in order to be purchased.

"China does not respect the rules"

The country is thus aligning itself with the neighbouring United States, which in mid-May went ahead of everyone and decided to increase duties on imports of electric cars made in China from 25% to 100% and also doubling list prices. The official announcement in the USA is expected in the next few days, although American media report a possible lowering of the rates.

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At the moment, however, a lot of information on the Canadian policy is missing, such as the dates for the implementation of the new rates. However, Trudeau emphasises that 'China does not follow the same rules' as everyone else and that Ottawa is moving 'in parallel with other economies around the world'.

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Europe's tariffs

Turning instead to the facts at home, Europe announced its China counter-move in the first half of June, when it decided to raise taxes on imports by a maximum of 38.1% - later reduced to 36.3% -, to be added to the already planned 10%. The accusation against Beijing is industrial dumping.

The European duties provisionally came into force on 5 July and will possibly become definitive between the end of October and the beginning of November, when the 27 EU member states will vote to approve or reject the proposal, presented by the Commission. In case of a green light, they will be operational for 5 years, extendable upon reasoned request.