Ontario Premier Calls for Major Tariffs on Chinese-Made Electric Vehicles

(L-R) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Honda executive Toshihiro Mibe, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford walk along an assembly line at an event announcing plans for a Honda electric vehicle battery plant in Alliston, Ont., on April 25, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette)

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on the federal government to slap massive tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.

In a statement released on X June 20, Mr. Ford said he wants Ottawa to match or exceed tariffs being applied by the United States, “including at least a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles.”

“Taking every advantage of low labour standards and dirty energy, China is flooding the market with artificially cheap electric vehicles. Unless we act fast, we risk Ontario and Canadian jobs,” he said in the statement.

Mr. Ford pointed to the billions in taxpayer subsidies earmarked for EV manufacturing and batteries in Canada.

“Ontario has a secured $43 billion worth of investments in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing, securing hundreds of thousands of good, well-paying jobs. This has been an all hands-on deck achievement, working side by side with the federal government and our private sector partners,” the statement added.

Mr. Ford urged Ottawa to protect the industry’s U.S. and Canadian supply chains.

“Now’s the time to protect good hard-earned Ontario and Canadian jobs by matching U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports,” the premier said.

When asked about the issue by reporters on the same day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not commit to the request.

“We’re watching closely what the Americans and other allies have done. We actually had significant conversations about this last week when I joined together with other G7 leaders in Italy,” Mr. Trudeau said at an announcement in Westville, Nova Scotia.

“I can assure you, we will continue to be there to protect Canadian workers and Canadian industry. And we will look very carefully at what steps need to be taken to ensure that the Canadian auto industry and Canadian consumers are well supported for years to come,” the prime minister said.

Mr. Ford’s statement came on the same day that the federal minister of energy and natural resources told reporters he hopes subsidies to purchase EVs can be phased out.

Responding to reporters’ questions, Jonathan Wilkinson said he supports subsidies for people who buy EVs – even though many EV purchasers tend to have higher than average incomes.

“When you have new technology that needs to be adopted, you actually need early adopters to start,” he said. “Early adopters typically are people who are very tech savvy, are interested in the newest thing, and they often are people in slightly higher income areas,” said Mr. Wilkinson. “But you need to have them catalyze a market to be able to actually drive down the cost such that you don’t need the subsidies over the long term.”

Currently the federal government offers subsidies of up to $5,000 per vehicle for consumers to buy electric vehicles.

That’s in addition to provincial rebates, which vary between provinces. British Columbia, for example, offers a rebate of up to $4,000 for a fully electric vehicle. Nova Scotia offers up to $3,000. By contrast Alberta and Saskatchewan do not offer any rebate.

“Eventually, we will not be subsidizing electric vehicles because they will be producing enough of these things; they will have cost reduced them to the point where they are fully, fully competitive with internal combustion engines,” Mr. Wilkinson said.

There is also the issue of consumer interest in EVs, which are not selling as well as some expected. Ford and GM have both said they have yet to turn a profit on EV sales.

Seamus O’Regan, the federal minister of labour, told reporters that barriers to EV sales include the availability of charging stations around the country.

“Once the infrastructure builds up, and once the price point comes down, money talks, right?” Mr. O’Regan told reporters. “And the fact of the matter is, they are amazing to drive.”

Lurking behind the debate over subsidies is also the issue of critical minerals, such as copper.

A University of Michigan study released in May concluded there may not be enough copper to support the goals of a full energy transition.

The study said an EV needs three to five times as much copper as a conventional vehicle, and on top of that, the power grid will need major upgrades – and more copper – to support the transition.

“A normal Honda Accord needs about 40 pounds of copper. The same battery electric Honda Accord needs almost 200 pounds of copper,” said Adam Simon, a professor of earth and environmental studies and one of the study’s authors.

“Onshore wind turbines require about ten tons of copper, and in offshore wind turbines, that amount can more than double,” he said in a university news release. “We show in the paper that the amount of copper needed is essentially impossible for mining companies to produce.”

The study suggests focusing on manufacturing hybrid vehicles, which use less copper than an EV, but still reduce emissions.