The federal government is not considering dropping tariffs it imposed last year on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), steel and aluminum, despite Beijing’s retaliation and U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a trade war with Canada, according to the industry minister.
Ottawa imposed a 100 per cent import tax on Chinese EVs and a 25 per cent import tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum last October. Beijing retaliated over the weekend by imposing nearly $4 billion in tariffs on Canadian agricultural products, including canola oil and pork.
"We’re going to stand strong,” said Francois-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry, in an interview with Vassy Kapelos on CTV News Channel’s Power Play. “We want to protect our industry. We want to protect our workers. We want to protect our communities.”
The federal government, following the lead of then-U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, imposed a 100 per cent import tax on EVs produced in China in October of last year, accusing Beijing of “distorting global trade” by exporting EVs at “unfairly low prices.”
Ottawa also imposed a 25 per cent import tax on Chinese-made steel and aluminum last October, accusing China of “pervasive subsidization” of its steel and aluminum industry.
In the wake of Trump’s decision to launch a trade war with Canada and China’s decision to impose new tariffs on Canadian products, B.C. Premier David Eby urged the federal government to rethink its tariff policy with all countries, including China.
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Your comments are outright wrong. This is not hateful warmongering, I am offering simple facts. The 5% growth rate in China is most likely wrong. Even one of China’s leading economists recently claimed that growth rates in the country are more around 2% (he has since disappeared).
A lot of China’s EV manufacturers already went bankrupt or ceased production in recent years due to fierce price wars, but the country has still a huge overcapacity, and we see the same pattern in practically all other industries.
(To use your language: just look at the numbers instead of repeating the Chinese propaganda absurdity.)
They had 350 car manufacturers. Normal to have some of these be losers.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/williampesek/2025/01/17/is-chinas-gdp-growth-only-2-donald-trump-might-want-to-find-out/
This is propaganda heavy. Gemini says source of claim is western “Rhodium Group”. https://rhg.com/research/after-the-fall-chinas-economy-in-2025/
That report while still propaganda lets us see through the propaganda with their reasoning.
China has better economic statistics reporting than even US, and claim that they’ve always been lying is the best shit talk we can come up with.
Rhodium points to not being able to separate government investment/spending from consumer spending in data. Looking at Alibaba sales is distracting if car sales are up 4.5%. Massive Chinese investments in renewable energy deployments, and other infrastructure (military production) can explain the reported GDP growth. Still consistent with lower cement use (investments in non cement using infrastructure). Lower diesel use is the result of their EV success, and LNG conversions of trucking. Rhodium is still expecting 2025 to match CCP expectations.
US GDP includes 11% as “Owner’s equivalent rent”, a non economic imputation that is higher with higher interest rates. It also includes “underpaid health services” as a GDP addition/boost even though US healthcare is 5 basis% of GDP higher than Canada without that adjustment. Worrying about fake GDP from China is a a favorite loser pastime. But (constant) projections of imminent collapse there are overblown, while the highly contracting austerity measures needed in US to stabilize debt would be depressionary.
Thank you for that heads up to find the link. I can’t assure you that there is no reason to doubt Chinese economic numbers. I can assure you that they have the fiscal ammunition to push through any trade wars or other difficulties, that US does not. It is not a basis for going all in on US subserviences vs China cooperation.
Zhu Hengpeng, who worked for a Chinese government thinktank for more than 20 years, disappeared a few months ago after making disparaging remarks on China’s economy, including the GDP growth and other metrics. You’ll find ample evidence for this.
Thanks for this. If you don’t have better sources than Gemini, I end this discussion.
I linked the rhodium group analysis, and addressed it.
Apparently not known what he said to get fired.