Prime Minister Mark Carney says he has reached a deal with China to allow tens of thousands of Chinese electric vehicles into the country in exchange for lower canola duties.

He billed his first such trade deal since taking office as a preliminary one that would boost the economy.

Carney says Ottawa expects Beijing to drop canola seed duties to 15 per cent by March.

Canadian canola meal, lobsters, crabs and peas will no longer be subject to Chinese tariffs from March to at least the end of the year.

In return, Canada will allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market at a 6.1 per cent tariff rate.

The pact comes just hours after Carney met with President Xi Jinping on a trip to Beijing, ending a multi-year trade dispute that began when the last Liberal government levied EV tariffs to protect Canada’s auto sector.

  • Avid Amoeba
    7·
    8 hours ago

    Yeah, my bet was they’d likely go with quota/lower tariff at the first meeting, factory afterwards.

    • humanspiral
      4·
      4 hours ago

      6.1% is actually 0. ie. it is same rate as non USMCA autos. Factory would likely be traded for higher import quota, and charging/service/dealership investments.

    • sbv@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      5·
      6 hours ago

      It makes sense. Now the question is what’ll it do to CUSMA negotiations with the US?

      • Avid Amoeba
        5·
        4 hours ago

        Hard to say. However the US should be clear now that the economic channel to China is open. The more the US uses the stick on us, the more and faster we’d widen the Chinese channel. Unlike many of the other individual trade partners we have, we already have very large channel with them, and China has the manufacturing capacity to fullfil a potentially rapidly rising demand for goods from Canada as well as capacity to absorb a rise in Canadian exports. So barring an invasion, I think the US might be more careful in the medium term even if they try stick in the short run.

        • humanspiral
          4·
          4 hours ago

          This is the only Canadian act that resulted in Trump saying something positive about Canada. “Good for them. Canada should have made a trade deal with China.”. This is also the only non submissive action Canada has made since the election.