By the end of August, Canada had announced a 100% surcharge on Chinese electric vehicle imports from October on, alleging “unfair competition”, which has raised a “live discontent” of the Chinese party.
The Ottawa Executive has now launched a new public consultation to collect the industry’s opinion for the application of a surcharge to those products, Deputy Prime Minister said Chrystia Freeland during a press conference.
“The labor, the automotive sector, and the supply chains of the production of essential products face unfair competition from Chinese producers, who benefit from the voluntary state overability policy,” the Economics minister declared.
This Sino-Canadian confrontation occurs in the context of increasing commercial tensions, with some western states accusing China of destroying competition in some industries such as winds, solar panels, and batteries.
Beijing has already complained to the World Trade Organization because of the customs rights applied to its electrical vehicles, considering it is a “unilateral and protectionist measure”.
Ottawa also envisions to apply a surcharge on imports of steel and aluminum product from China.
For his part, Beijing announced an antidumping investigation into the Canadian canola.
For a few years, Canada has developed considerable efforts to attract actors in the electric vehicle sector, highlighting their tax incentives, its clean energy, and their important resources on rare lands.
