The latest fiscal report from the Canadian government indicates that Canada plans to impose tariffs on a large number of Chinese products as early as next year, as part of a broader investigation into products imported from China.
According to reports from Reuters, the mid-year fiscal update presented on Monday shows that Canada has decided to impose tariffs on certain solar products and critical minerals imported from China at the beginning of the new year, and on semiconductors, permanent magnets, and natural graphite by 2026.
“These measures will prevent non-market trade practices from China (CCP) from causing unfair and harmful market distortions in Canada and throughout North America,” the fiscal update report stated.
The fiscal update report is also known as the “Fall Economic Statement”. This statement did not provide detailed information on the scope of the tariffs nor specify which specific products would be subject to tariffs at the beginning of next year, but it mentioned that further details on the measures will be announced soon.
Prime Minister Trudeau’s government has often criticized the Chinese government’s subsidization policy leading to oversupply and excess capacity. He stated that Canada needs to protect local employment and prevent cheap Chinese products from flooding the Canadian market.
In August of this year, Canada already imposed a 100% surtax on all Chinese electric cars and a 25% surtax on imported Chinese steel and aluminum products. The Ministry of Finance had previously indicated that they were exploring plans to expand the scope of tariffs.
Trudeau had said that this action aims to boost the Canadian electric vehicle manufacturing industry. The Canadian government argued that Canadian auto workers and the automotive industry are currently facing unfair competition from Chinese manufacturers who benefit from unfair non-market policies and practices. China’s deliberate, government-led overcapacity policies, coupled with a lack of stringent labor and environmental standards, threaten workers and businesses in the global electric vehicle industry and undermine Canada’s long-term economic prosperity.
Reuters noted that the Canadian government often uses its anti-Communist China stance to signal to the newly elected US President Trump that Canada remains aligned with its largest trading partner, the United States, in opposing Beijing.