Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that Ottawa will impose 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports and 25 percent levies on Chinese steel and aluminum – a measure recently initiated by the United States. Trudeau said Canada is taking these steps because China “doesn’t play by the same rules.” The decision is another example of the United States and its allies cracking down on perceived unfair economic practices. Speaking during a cabinet retreat in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Trudeau stressed that actors like China are gaining an unfair advantage in the global market. The announcement came just a day after U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Trudeau. Sullivan, who was en route to China for talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, had urged Ottawa to take the action. Since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, his administration has invested heavily in lobbying American allies to join Washington in taking action against China. Sullivan said in Canada, a “united front” would benefit both the U.S. and its partners. Canada’s finance ministry said the tariffs will be applied to Chinese electric vehicles, such as cars, trucks, buses and vans, starting Oct. 1. Tariffs on steel and aluminum will take effect two weeks later. At the same time, the Canadian government is launching a 30-day consultation to examine what other areas Ottawa needs to act on. This includes batteries, semiconductors, solar products and critical minerals. The Canadian tariffs follow a similar U.S. action against Chinese electric vehicles. The EU also plans to impose tariffs, albeit at lower rates than the U.S. and Canada. Washington and its allies fear China could flood global markets with electric vehicles, given its dominant position in the market. According to Canada’s finance ministry, China’s “deliberate, state-led overcapacity and a lack of strong labor and environmental standards” are putting workers and companies in the global electric vehicle industry at risk and undermining Canada’s long-term economic prosperity. “That’s why our government is moving forward with decisive action to level the playing field, protect Canadian workers and align with the actions of our key trading partners,” said Chrystia Freeland, finance minister and deputy prime minister. Automotive is one of Canada’s most important manufacturing sectors, with production facilities around the Great Lakes supplying consumers in the U.S. The sector directly employs nearly 120,000 people, according to the Canadian government. Ottawa has also followed the U.S. in introducing subsidies to encourage demand for domestically made electric vehicles. The tariffs announcement comes a month after Mélanie Joly visited China – the first by a Canadian foreign minister in seven years. Relations between the countries soured in 2018 after China detained two Canadian citizens, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and did not release them for more than three years. This was seen as retaliation for the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s CFO, in Canada at the request of the U.S. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
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