Consultations on potential policy responses to unfair Chinese trade practices in electric vehicles
Current status: Closed
Auto manufacturing directly supports over 125,000 good-paying Canadian jobs. Canada's electric vehicle (EV) supply chain potential is ranked first in the world—and the federal government is seizing the growth opportunities of EVs to ensure Canadian auto workers can succeed well into the future.
Canadian auto workers and the auto sector, however, currently face unfair competition from China's intentional, state-directed policy of overcapacity and lack of rigorous labour and environmental standards. Chinese producers are generating a global oversupply that will erode the profit incentives of EV producers around the world, including in Canada.
That is why, on June 24, 2024, the federal government announced the launch of a 30-day consultation, from July 2, 2024, to August 1, 2024, on potential policy responses to protect Canada's auto workers and its growing EV industry from China's unfair trade policies and practices, and prevent trade diversion resulting from recent action taken by Canadian trading partners.
This consultation invited all interested Canadians and stakeholders to provide input on Canada's potential policy response to China's unfair trade practices. Thank you to everyone who participated.
Key questions for consideration
This consultation sought views on:
- Chinese policies causing overcapacity and accelerating exports of EVs from China. This includes information on subsidies, including to key production inputs such as critical minerals, steel, and aluminum as well as problematic environmental or labour practices or any other non-market policies and practices; and
- Potential policy responses, including:
- A surtax under Section 53 of the Customs Tariff;
- Whether to exclude zero-emission vehicles made in China from eligibility under the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicle and the Incentives for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle programs;
- Whether additional actions like further policy guidance, monitoring, or restrictions related to transactions and investment from Chinese sources in the Canadian EV supply chain are required or would be desirable;
- Cyber and data security issues in connected vehicles and potential measures to address these concerns; and,
- Other measures related to protecting Canada's broader EV supply chain.
What's next?
The government is reviewing feedback from Canadians and stakeholders to help inform decisions about which potential policy responses should move forward, and what the appropriate policy details, such as tariff rates, of those policies will be.
While this formal consultation has now concluded, Canadians are welcome to share their ideas and comments with the Department of Finance at any time.