Canada reaches tariff-quota deal with China on EVs, canola

Carney meets Xi Jinping, hails get along in resetting merchandise with cathay

undercoat 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 said 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.

"It has been a historic and productive two days," Carney said. "We have to understand the differences between Canada and other countries, and focus our efforts to work together where we're aligned."

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Carney in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People that he is willing to continue working to improve ties, noting that talks have been underway on restoring and restarting co-operation since the two held an initial meeting in October on the sidelines of a regional economic conference in South Korea.

"It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China-Canada relations toward improvement," Xi said.

The pact ends a multi-year trade dispute, with China angered when the last Liberal government levied EV tariffs to protect Canada's auto sector.

Carney called for a new relationship "adapted to new global realities" and co-operation in agriculture, energy and finance.

Those new realities reflect in large part the so-called America-first approach of U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump has imposed a suite of tariffs that have affected Canadian economic sectors and prompted a backlash.

Trump says he doesn’t need Canada as Carney heads to China

Both Carney and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, also on the trip to China, have spoken to the need for Canada to diversify its trade, while Carney wrote an op-ed late last year in The Economist on what he termed a new era of "variable geometry," in which Ottawa might engage in a variety of multilateral pacts with partners across the world as the U.S. Backs away from international leadership and co-operation.

Carney departs China on Saturday and visits Qatar on Sunday, before attending the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week. He will meet business leaders and investors in Qatar to promote trade and investment, his office said.

Trump has excoriated the updated trade deal with Canada and Mexico agreed to in his first presidential administration, and this week called the prospect of a new pact "irrelevant" to U.S. Economic fortunes.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — in her last year in office and considered a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate — called for a shift in U.S. Policy at the Detroit Auto Show on Thursday, saying it was integral for the U.S. To work together with Canada and Mexico in order to compete economically with China. She pointed out that U.S. Manufacturing has contracted for nine consecutive months.

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