As Australia becomes the consumer of a greater portion of Chinese-made vehicles, Canada has become the latest country to join the global trade conflict.
This week Canada followed the US in announcing huge tariffs of 100 per cent for Chinese made EVs, including Teslas.
Canada will also impose 25 per cent tariffs on imported steel and aluminium from China according to Reuters.
Canadian imports of automobiles from China grew four-fold in a year to 44,356 in 2023, after Tesla started shipping Shanghai-made EVs there.
It comes after the EU also slapped tariffs on Chinese made vehicles based around how subsidised the OEMs were, but they range up to 36.9 per cent.
The ongoing trade war between the major auto manufacturing countries is likely to have will have implications for the future Australian car parc, particularly as new brands arrive and some established makers like BYD have ambitious plans for Australia.
Australia has also seen a massive growth in Chinese made vehicles that are now the third largest country of origin.
China as an automotive power in Australia has gone from 3.5 per cent of new vehicles to 16 per cent in three years.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the media they were acting to counter what he called China’s intentional, state-directed policy of over-capacity.
“I think we all know that China is not playing by the same rules,” he told reporters. The tariffs will be imposed starting Oct. 1.
“What is important about this is we’re doing it in alignment and in parallel with other economies around the world,”.
‘Protectionism’
China responded by saying Canada “will disrupt the stability of global industrial and supply chains,” and seriously undermine the global economic system and economic and trade rules.
“The Canadian side claims to support free trade and the multilateral trading system based on World Trade Organization(WTO) rules, but it flagrantly violates WTO rules, blindly follows individual countries, and announces that it will adopt unilateral tariff measures, which is typical trade protectionism,” a Chinese government spokesperson said in a statement.
China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner, although it trails far behind the United States.