Two of Canada’s premiers are urging the federal government to lift its tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles in hopes it could lead to Beijing removing its own duties on Canadian canola.
“Seize the opportunity presented by recent remarks from the Chinese ambassador to Canada,” said Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew in a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“He indicated that China is prepared to lift its tariffs on Canadian canola and pork if Canada removes the 100 per cent tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles.”
Kinew was referring to remarks made by ambassador Wang Di through a translator in an interview aired Sunday on CTV.
Canada has had a 100 per cent tariff on China’s EVs since October 2024, a duty imposed in lockstep with the United States, arguing the move was to protect the country’s automobile industry.
In August, China imposed a tariff of nearly 76 per cent on Canadian canola seed after an anti-dumping investigation into the country’s canola crop.
Both canola farmers and Ottawa have rejected claims of dumping, arguing exporters have followed rules-based trade.
In the wake of the duties, premiers in the Prairie provinces have urged constructive discussions with China and for EV tariffs to be dropped.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, who previously said removing the EV tariffs would not be a simple fix, travelled to China in September for meetings with Beijing officials.
His office said in a statement last week that both countries must continue to talk with one another.
On Sunday, Moe posted on X that Wang’s comments are a “clear signal” of how the federal government “can act this week” as Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand visits China.
“It’s time for Ottawa to get this deal done on behalf of 200K Canadian workers,” he wrote.
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Anand begins her trip to Asia Monday in Delhi and is expected to comment Tuesday.
Moe’s remarks come after new data from Statistics Canada this past week showed the province exported $96 million in goods to China in August, a 76-per cent drop when compared to the same month last year.
About 60 per cent of the province’s exports to China are farming and food products and the data shows they’ve been declining since June.
Though Kinew, Moe and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have all called for a removal, other federal and provincial politicians have taken the opposite stance.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a letter to Carney last month that the tariffs are “critical to protecting” jobs in the province.
“At a time when our automotive sector is under enormous financial pressures because of President Trump’s tariffs, Canada’s tariff on Chinese-made EVs is critical to protecting more than 157,000 direct jobs in Ontario and hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs across the country,” Ford wrote in the letter.
International trade lawyer Mark Warner told Global News that Ford’s stance is not surprising as Canada hasn’t opened its markets to China’s EVs.
“We’re asking farmers to take it in the teeth for something that really isn’t being produced in Canada yet,” Warner said.
He added the disagreements from politicians on how to handle the trade dispute may prove helpful for Beijing.
“Obviously, China knows what sectors to squeeze to get a rise out of Canadian politicians,” he said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has also stood firm on the tariffs.
“China wants these electric vehicles to be roving surveillance operations on our streets,” Poilievre said.
Despite the calls from the Prairie premiers, the federal government has given no signal they could drop their duties first.
Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne’s office told The Canadian Press in mid-September that a review was underway into the decision to impose the EV tariffs, but would not say when the review began or when it will end.
“We have begun more intense engagement with China with respect, first and foremost, to canola and other agricultural products,” Carney said in early September. “It’s too early to come to any conclusions.”
Carney met with his counterpart Li Qiang while at the United Nations last month and a readout from the Prime Minister’s Office said the two leaders discussed canola and electric vehicles.
—with files from Global News’ Jillian Piper and The Canadian Press
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