WS OPINION: Carney’s EV tariffs are driving Canada into a wall

Mark Carney flew to Beijing looking to “reset” relations with China. Fine idea — if he can resist the temptation to turn Canadian trade into one long moral seminar. The former banker has the air of a man who wants to run the country like a WEF policy manual from Davos, but it’s time he listened to the people who actually do the work, such as the canola growers who’ve been footing the bill for Ottawa’s virtue tariffs.Back in October 2024, Canada slapped a 100% tariff on electric vehicles (EVs) imported from China, claiming to defend fair competition and align with Washington DC’s industrial strategy. The move sounded decisive — it always does when politicians “stand up” to Beijing — but in practice it was about as effective as putting a parking ticket on a tank. Chinese sales here were tiny to begin with, while the real pain quickly landed on Canada’s doorstep when China hit back..TIAN: From cheap gas to expensive vegetables — Alberta is wasting its best asset.By March 2025, Beijing slapped retaliatory tariffs on Canadian canola, peas, seafood, and pork, in some cases as high as 100%. That retaliation didn’t hurt multinational automakers; it hit prairie farmers — the ones already squeezed by drought, freight costs, and razor-thin margins. You can shrug off a luxury EV in Toronto, but out on the Prairies, you notice when China bans your best customer.Now, as Carney sits across the table from Chinese negotiators, the obvious deal is right there: drop the EV tariff if Beijing drops its food tariffs. That’s not surrender — it’s reciprocity. Canada trades roughly $8 billion annually in agri-food exports to China, a lifeline for rural communities from Brandon to Battleford. According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, canola alone drives billions in farm revenues and supports over 200,000 Canadian jobs. No amount of bureaucratic rhetoric about “fair competition” can replace that..The government’s defenders insist that defending North American EV production is essential — that Chinese firms like BYD and NIO enjoy massive state subsidies and predatory pricing. True enough. But unless Mark Carney secretly plans to turn Windsor into Shanghai, Canadian auto manufacturing isn’t coming back through tariffs; it will come through innovation, investment, and energy affordability. Blocking Chinese EVs doesn’t make Canada more competitive — it just makes electric cars more expensive for Canadians who were told to buy them in the first place.This is the absurdity of Carney’s industrial policy: in the name of “building a clean economy,” he’s raising prices on clean vehicles while bankrupting the people who grow our food. It’s protectionism without protection — a kind of economic cosplay meant to please Washington and win applause at extremist climate conferences..OLDCORN: Senator Paula Simons’ Alberta independence ‘racist’ and ‘transphobic’ smears go too far.China’s own tariffs are not about environmental policy or morality. They’re about leverage. Beijing knows Canadian agriculture is politically sensitive. That’s why canola, peas, and seafood were targeted — sectors concentrated in Western Canada, where Ottawa’s policies already breed resentment. The message was plain: punish Liberal strongholds, and Carney will shrug; punish Saskatchewan, and watch the headlines change.Trade retaliation isn’t new. When Beijing suspended canola imports in 2019 after arresting Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, exports fell by over 40% in a year. The current tariffs echo that saga — except this time, the pain was made in Ottawa. If Carney wants to act statesmanlike, he should bring relief to farmers, not force them to fund his climate war through lost markets..Critics say dropping the EV tariff would make Canada look weak. But strength isn’t measured in how long you hold a bad policy; it’s measured in how fast you fix it. If China agrees to remove its punitive agricultural duties, Canada should do the same for EVs. A reciprocal deal would open markets on both sides, lower consumer costs, and rebuild a sliver of trust in a badly strained relationship.That doesn’t mean ignoring security concerns. Canada should remain vigilant about Chinese influence in critical infrastructure, research, and supply chains. But electric cars aren’t nuclear submarines. Buying a BYD sedan doesn’t compromise national defence — it just gives families another affordable option on the lot. Blocking it on patriotic grounds doesn’t protect Canada; it protects inefficiency..HANNAFORD: Can this really be legal?.The moral case for Carney’s trip is simple: drop the tariffs, both ways. Stand up for the people who feed the world, not for bureaucratic symbols of “alignment” with Washington. The farmers in Moose Jaw or Lloydminster shouldn’t lose contracts because Ottawa can’t see the forest for the trees. Western Canada has carried this country through tougher times: grain embargoes, oil crashes, pandemic disruptions. It’s not too much to ask the government — Carney’s government — to carry them in return.

WS OPINION: Carney’s EV tariffs are driving Canada into a wall

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