Following the USA, Canada also wants to block electric cars from China from entering the market with a 100 percent tariff. The Canadian government also announced tariffs of 25 percent on Chinese steel and aluminum products.
The measures are intended to create fair conditions for the domestic industry, as Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland stressed. Chinese manufacturers benefit, among other things, from a government-imposed policy of overcapacity and laxer standards for protecting workers and the environment, the government argues.
The additional electric car tariff is set to come into force on October 1 and will be added to the current 6.1 percent. The steel and aluminum tariffs will follow two weeks later. The Canadian government also plans to start consultations on other industries such as batteries, semiconductors and solar products.
USA also imposes 100 percent tariff
In May, the US government imposed additional tariffs of 100 percent on electric cars from China. So far, it has been difficult to buy Chinese electric vehicles in the US and Canada. There is great concern in the industry about not being able to compete with cheap cars from China.
The EU Commission followed suit in June with its own plans, which, however, provide for different tariffs depending on the manufacturer. According to the current status, the tariffs will be 36.3 percent for the manufacturer SAIC, 17 percent for BYD and 9 percent for vehicles made in China by the US company Tesla.