Premier Doug Ford is standing by his support for massive tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles despite murmurs of discontent from another provincial leader who suggests the move helps Ontario at the expense of his province.
The issue of Chinese-made electric vehicles rose to the centre of Canadian political debate last summer, when Canada began to worry that cheap vehicles assembled in China could saturate the domestic market.
Ford raised concerns that would undercut Ontario’s fledgling electric vehicle manufacturing sector and he demanded barriers be introduced to protect it.
“I’m calling on the federal government to immediately match or exceed U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, including at least a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles,” Ford said in the summer of 2024. “Unless we act fast, we risk Ontario and Canadian jobs.”
At the time, Queen’s Park and Ottawa had offered Honda, Volkswagen, Stellantis and Ford Motor either direct infrastructure funding or production-related tax incentives to convince the global automakers to choose Ontario as their generational home.
The government was anticipating thousands of direct manufacturing jobs and new positions at spinoff companies as a result, raising the stakes in a global battle for the future of the electric vehicle market.
With Ontario jobs in the balance, the federal government backed Ford’s request and slapped 100 per cent tariffs on electric vehicles, trucks, buses, and delivery vans from China.
The Chinese government retaliated, however, its response looks set to hurt Saskatchewan and Atlantic Canada rather than Ontario.
The Chinese government promised a 100 per cent levy on Canadian canola oil and meal, plus a 25 per cent duty on seafood and pork. Those tariffs on Canadian goods imported to China kick in on Thursday.
As the tariffs take effect, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe called on the federal government to remove its levies on electric vehicles amid fears that his province could face job losses and face the brunt of the blowback.
Moe pointedly called it “a Western Canadian expense at the benefit of a non-existent EV auto industry in Eastern Canada.”
Faced with calls to rethink the tariffs, Ford’s office said the premier continues to back the tax on Chinese-made vehicles.
“We support tariffs on Chinese EVs and continue to support aligning tariffs against economic adversaries so that we can work more closely with our economic allies,” Ford’s office said in a statement to Global News.
“If we want the U.S. to exempt us from their tariffs, we must demonstrate our willingness to take appropriate steps against countries that undermine our shared economic success,” the statement added.
Global News asked the Premier’s Office whether the Ontario Government believes tariffs to support one industry are worth tariffs that destabilize another industry but did not receive a response to that question.
Ford has also recently found himself in opposition to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on the issue of tariffs. Smith has refused calls from the Ontario premier to consider a tariff on oil sold from Alberta to the United States.
At Queen’s Park, Opposition parties appeared to give the premier their backing but urged him to proceed with caution.
“Every single move we make right now can have an unintended consequence on our industries, on our workers or on our neighbours,” said NDP Leader Marit Stiles who also underscored the importance of the “Team Canada” approach.
Green Party leader Mike Schreiner said it’s the “wrong time to antagonize the U.S. even more.”
“The main reason those tariffs were brought in was to align ourselves with the electric vehicle manufacturing sector in the United States, we know how interconnected the automobile industry is in Canada and U.S.,” Schreiner said.
“Anything to separate that just fuels Trump’s trade war.”