The Liberal government has reached a deal with Beijing to allow tens of thousands of Chinese electric vehicles into the domestic market in exchange for dropping duties on canola products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.
It marks the prime minister’s first deal on trade with another country since taking office last year and a de-escalation in tensions with a country the Liberal government had, in recent years, branded a disruptive power and Carney had called the biggest threat facing the country.
Carney described this as a “preliminary but landmark” agreement to remove trade barriers and reduce tariffs, part of a broader strategic partnership with China.
“It’s a partnership that reflects the world as it is today, with an engagement that is realistic, respectful and interest-based,” Carney told a news conference in Beijing.
Carney said Ottawa expects Beijing to drop canola seed duties to 15 per cent by March, and called that “enormous progress.”
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in a social media post that the break on canola tariffs “demonstrates the importance of foreign trade missions and shows what can be achieved when the federal and provincial governments and our export industries work together to strengthen our trade relationships.”
Canadian canola meal, lobsters, crabs and peas will no longer be subject to Chinese “anti-discrimination” tariffs from March to at least the end of the year. There was no mention of canola oil.
In return, Canada, which imposed 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in 2024, will allow up to 49,000 Chinese EVs into the Canadian market each year, at a 6.1 per cent tariff.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, who announced a deal Friday with China on a range of sectors, including canola and a tariff-quota arrangement on electric vehicles, took questions on the terms of the deal, what it means for Canada — and the implications of moving closer to China.
Carney said that will make some EVs more affordable for Canadians and that this would be just a tiny sliver of the Canadian domestic market — about three per cent.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford was quick to criticize the EV deal, saying China has been given a foothold in the Canadian market that will hurt Canadian workers.
“The federal government is inviting a flood of cheap made-in-China electric vehicles without any real guarantee of equal or immediate investments in Canada’s economy, auto sector or supply chain,” Ford said in a post on X.
The Ontario premier went on to say the deal risks “closing the door on Canadian automakers to the American market” and that Carney needs to balance the deal with support for Ontario’s auto sector.
“That means making the sector more competitive by ending the electric vehicle mandate, harmonizing regulations with key trading partners and scrapping federal fees that do nothing but add…
Read More: Canada reaches tariff-quota deal with China on EVs, canola
