Is Carney's China deal our EV onramp? |
The Maple Leaf flew alongside the Five-star Red Flag over Tiananmen Square this week, as Canada’s prime minister was welcomed into Beijing’s Great Hall of the People to meet with the Chinese leadership.
The scenes were dignified, even friendly. Back home, tensions are much more public. Premier Doug Ford and the auto lobby are slamming the deal to relax Canada’s 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is cheering the deal on behalf of Prairie farmers.
It’s worth pausing to recognize that it’s kind of astonishing, even encouraging, that electric vehicles have been so central to the whole conundrum. There’s also a delicious irony in the fact that the MAGA/MAHA cults have somehow managed to precipitate a boost for both Chinese EVs and seed oils.
One of the big issues facing the Carney government was whether Canada would be willing to relax its tariffs on Chinese EVs. If so, China had signalled it would be willing to reduce its countermeasures against Canadian canola along with other agricultural products and seafood.
Those tariffs were imposed after Canada followed the US lead against Chinese EVs. In the run-up to Prime Minister Carney’s visit, the editorial board of China Daily took a shot at our “elbows up” PM, writing that, “If Ottawa still chooses to subject its China policy to the will of Washington again in the future, it will only render its previous efforts to mend ties with Beijing in vain.” China Daily is owned by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party and its editorials are generally understood to be the voice of China’s leadership in English.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford remains “100 per cent dead against” lifting the tariffs (although he’s said he’d be willing to “talk” if Chinese EV makers were willing to open factories in the province).
But the Ford government has spent years fighting policies to clean up transportation (the largest source of climate pollution in the province) and the energy system more broadly.........