Prime Minister Mark Carney says he has reached a deal with China to allow tens of thousands of Chinese electric vehicles into the country in exchange for lower canola duties.

He billed his first such trade deal since taking office as a preliminary one that would boost the economy.

Carney says Ottawa expects Beijing to drop canola seed duties to 15 per cent by March.

Canadian canola meal, lobsters, crabs and peas will no longer be subject to Chinese tariffs from March to at least the end of the year.

In return, Canada will allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market at a 6.1 per cent tariff rate.

The pact comes just hours after Carney met with President Xi Jinping on a trip to Beijing, ending a multi-year trade dispute that began when the last Liberal government levied EV tariffs to protect Canada’s auto sector.

  • engene@lemmy.caEnglish
    15·
    2 days ago

    Overall this is a good move. However, it will affect manufacturing in Canada. This means North American car manufacturers will simply have to adapt and innovate. Competition is always better than the alternative. For me personally, Honda & Toyota will be my first choice to support our manufacturing base. 🇨🇦💪

    Trump can keep his US cars. We don’t need them!

    • NarrativeBear@lemmy.world
      2·
      24 hours ago

      Agreed, Canada can even look into battery manufacturing and clean every production. This would include wind, solar, hydro electric, and (with some reluctance on my part) modular nuclear reactors, which Canada has plenty of knowledge in manufacturing.

      If we shifted to battery manufacturing we can supply replacement batteries for imported cars, or even producing the batteries for said cars being imported directly.