Canadian Economist Criticizes Canada's Latest Tariff Against Chinese EVs

The reasons the Canadian government cited to impose additional import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) are weak, said Canadian economist Mark Kruger on Friday.

Kruger noted that the latest tariff announcement would do no good to the Canadian people or meeting Canada's carbon emissions targets.

On Aug 26, Canada said it would impose a 100 percent tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles and announced a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and aluminum from China.

The Canadian government claimed that this move is to protect Canadian jobs, but the argument is far from convincing, said Kruger.

"Clearly, by putting 100 percent tariff on those electric vehicles, they're not helping Canadian consumers, because they're making those vehicles more expensive. So I think that this policy, it doesn't help either Canadian workers or Canadian consumers. Canada has its own carbon emissions targets and goals, and by maintaining a high price for electric vehicles, they're pushing the achievement of those goals farther into the future," said Kruger.

China deplores and firmly opposes the Canadian government's act, which has blatantly violated WTO rules, blindly followed certain countries and taken unilateral tariff measures against Chinese products, as a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said, describing such practices as "typical trade protectionism."