OTTAWA \u2014 The federal government says it is reviewing its decision to impose 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese EVs — but it can\u2019t or won\u2019t say when the review began, or when it will end.<\/p>\n
The tariffs took effect on Oct. 1, 2024, and the regulatory order published imposing them said \u201cthe government intends to review this measure within a period of one year from its entry into force.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finance officials now say the review is \u201cinformal,\u201d with no specific deadline.<\/p>\n
The news comes as Canada tries to recalibrate its trade relationship with China, which imposed heavy tariffs on Canada\u2019s canola sector last month. The move was widely seen as an act of retaliation for Canada\u2019s EV tariffs.<\/p>\n
Canada introduced the surtax on Chinese EVs a year ago to match those of the United States. Ottawa accused China of unfairly subsidizing its EV industry and overproducing vehicles to flood markets with cheaper cars.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Press began asking about the status of the Chinese EV tariff review two weeks ago, after Prime Minister Mark Carney appeared to confuse it with the newly announced review of the government\u2019s EV sales mandate.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 11, a reporter at a press conference asked Carney whether Canada would lower the 100 per cent tariffs, after noting they were currently under review.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust to be clear,\u201d Carney replied, \u201cwhat\u2019s under review — I think you know, but for others — is the EV mandate. We\u2019ve suspended it for 2026 and we\u2019re reviewing that overall approach \u0393\u00c7\u00aa in the context of the trade environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat review just started. We\u2019re in the first week of a 60-day review, so I don\u2019t want to prejudice it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carney however was referring to the 60-day review of the EV sales mandate his government launched on Sept. 5, which was a separate issue than the tariffs imposed on Chinese vehicles.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister\u2019s Office deferred questions about the issue to Finance Minister Francois-Phillippe Champagne. His office told The Canadian Press on Sept. 17 the review hadn\u2019t started yet.<\/p>\n
After further inquiries, Champagne\u2019s office changed course and said this week the review had started.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe review was initiated within the prescribed one year timeline and remains underway,\u201d said press secretary John Fragos. \u201cThe government is cognizant of the interest that many stakeholders have in the timely completion of this review.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked when the review began, Fragos said only that it began in early September, though a department spokesperson later said there is no \u201cspecific date.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no specific date, I\u2019m afraid, as this is an informal process (i.e., not a public consultation),\u201d wrote a Department of Finance spokesperson, in a statement to The Canadian Press provided by Champagne\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you could say it began this summer. And because it isn\u2019t a formal process per se, there\u2019s no open or close date like with a consultation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officials did say they\u2019re finalizing their advice to Champagne on the EV tariffs, based on what the government heard from stakeholders.<\/p>\n
The Canadian auto sector has called for the tariffs to remain in place to protect Canada\u2019s carmakers, while environmental groups have called for them to be lowered or repealed to help boost competition in the EV market.<\/p>\n
Last week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged the government to keep the tariffs in place in a letter to Carney.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the federal government removes its tariffs against Chinese-made EVs, you will contradict and undermine months of engagement with U.S. officials and lawmakers about the need to protect and enhance our highly integrated cross-border automotive supply chains,\u201d Ford wrote.<\/p>\n
While the status and the seriousness of the review remains unclear, Canada has prioritized its trade relationship with China over the last several weeks.<\/p>\n
Following his trip to China with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe earlier this month, Liberal MP Kody Blois said Canadians should expect to see more high-level outreach to Beijing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to see an increased presence of federal ministers visiting China, engaging with their counterparts, and I think there\u2019s ultimately an opportunity for more dialogue on the trade irritants that exist between our two countries,\u201d Blois told reporters last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would characterize the meetings as positive. It was an opportunity for re-engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is expected to visit China in mid-October, and Carney met with his counterpart Li Qiang while at the United Nations last week. A readout from the Prime Minister\u2019s Office said the two leaders discussed canola and electric vehicles.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecently we\u2019ve seen very good signs of engagement between Canada and China. We recognize that as a prerequisite to getting to a solution on the tariff issues,\u201d said Chris Davison, president of the Canola Council of Canada.<\/p>\n
Davison did not taking a position on whether the Chinese EV tariffs should stay in place, saying this is a political issue which requires a political solution.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re encouraged by the level of engagement. We anticipate that level of engagement will continue and indeed intensify moving forward. And just want to re-emphasize the urgency attached to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2025<\/p>\n
\u2014 With files from Dylan Robertson<\/p>\n
Nick Murray, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OTTAWA \u2014 The federal government says it is reviewing its decision to impose 100 per cent tariffs on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[23201,45,49,48,46,1688,47,714],"class_list":{"0":"post-171689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-automotive","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-economy","13":"tag-manufacturing","14":"tag-national","15":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}