Will the feds slap a tariff on Chinese-made EVs? | Power Play with Mike Le Couteur

prime minister Justin Trudeau says he will protect Canada’s electric vehicle industry Canada has already committed tens of billions of dollars to the production of batteries and vehicles some of that money is in the form of tax credits and most of those Investments have been done in partnership with provincial governments in both Quebec and Ontario but it’s Premier Doug Ford who is asking Trudeau to go one step further he’s asking the federal government to follow the bid Administration in mapping a 100% tariff on Chinese made EVS Ford says it’s all about protecting Canadian jobs joining me now to talk more about this and about the ask and any possible response is Ontario’s Economic Development Minister Vic fidelli welcome back to Power Play Minister fidelli thanks Mike uh good to be here today so you just heard the Prime Minister there saying that he hasn’t ruled out the Tariff but he also hasn’t committed to it so what is your read of where the community Canadian government is on this well today’s statement by Premier Ford is all about protecting our jobs and really protecting that endtoend EV supply chain that we built we’ve landed 43 billion do in Investments here in ontar in the last four years and that needs to be protected uh it’s it’s about protecting our trade relationship with the United States our single largest trading partner 85% of everything we make in the auto sector goes to the us we’ve got to do everything we can to prot the the Auto Workers here now spokesperson for Deputy Prime Minister chrisa Freeland said in a statement to CTV News China has an intentional State directed policy of overc capacity we are actively considering next steps to counter Chinese over Supply protecting Canadian jobs manufacturing and our free trade relationship is essential does that statement give you any kind of comfort that they will do with with Premier Ford is asking and slap 100% tariff on Chinese made EVS well we need them to act on that you know we know in China there’s low labor standards there’s dirty energy uh all the things that make these cheap vehicles that they plan to ship um and again we would call on the federal government to use every tool that they have in their toolbox to protect the Canadian workers uh making sure that uh that we uh are using every uh uh um every tool that we have when you talk about the tools that are available what do you think is important in trying in any kind of free market to make sure that canadian-made vehicles are actually competitive with those Chinese vehicles is there not something that we should be doing on our end to make sure that the pricing is in order and competitive well again in China they’ve got very low labor standards they’ve got uh uh coal produced uh energy um where we don’t here in Ontario we’re producing 90 plus% clean energy we’re making batteries here we will be making batteries here at three battery plants with 100% clean energy so we are making a vehicle that you would be proud to drive in it’s a true electric vehicle uh China where they have Coal Power powered steel plants uh coal assembly coal powered assembly uh and very low labor standards it’s that that’s exactly why we want to make sure that we uh uh continue with our duty free between Canada in the United States where we ship 85% of our Goods to bank now I take your point and it is a compelling argument Canada’s clean production versus what you’re saying is uh going on in China but at the same time your government did scrap Ontario’s EV Credit in 2018 so if you are that concerned about protecting the investment in Ontario made EVS would your government consider bringing back that re that uh rebate to incentivize sales in this country and in this province well don’t forget that EV credit was for foreign made cars because we did not make it we did at the time we did not make any electric vehicles in Ontario we decided instead to invest that money in the workers here in Ontario you know that auto sector was on a decline under the previous government and just like in Australia we were headed for the bottom Australia bottomed out they don’t make Vehicles there anymore Premier Ford decided to double down in our Auto sector and make sure that we’re producing those electric vehicles so that when you do want to buy one it can be made here in Ontario and now we see companies ramping up to make uh electric vehicles here make batteries here make the components for battery $43 billion doll worth of investments in four years alone that’s unprecedented and by the way that’s larger than any US state we are uh number one in the world uh according to Bloomberg um in the global EV supply chain this is from0 to $43 billion it’s unprecedented Minister fideli some critics May sort of counter that you can do both you can make that investment in inv V EVs and build them here in Canada and in Ontario and you can also have that rebate because the Canadian government has that rebate on buying an EV so why wouldn’t Ontario want to do that as well to incentivize it prob we see Quebec in their last budget changing their EV rebate from 7,000 down to zero in a couple of years uh we see DC rolling back what you can uh have uh what you can invest in as well we know that we’d rather see that money put into the plants into the Auto Workers we’ve added tens of thousands of jobs in the auto sector ever since we uh decided to Double Down uh in the EV sector and again we’ve gone from zero to 43 billion in four years tens of thousands of jobs added uh we are doing uh and we continue to do more and you’ll hear more announcements uh continuing to come in the EV sector because you know we are now around the world the most sought after place to to arrive to make EV vehicles to make batteries and to make uh EV Parts at the same time there are growth forecasts in the EV industry that are remaining a little flat last week General mortors CFO said that the company is trimming its targets for production in 2024 so are you at all concerned that your government has put billions of taxpayer dollars into an industry that may not be taking off in the future the way that you had expected it to well EV sales were up 31% globally last year up 49% in Canada last year look the alternative is not doing anything and that just wasn’t going to happen we saw all of our auto companies coming to the end of their production lines and it was either we get into the EV business or we lose the 100,000 jobs not only did we save the 100,000 jobs but we’ve also seen the addition of tens of thousands of jobs in Ontario alone uh making Parts making batteries making battery Parts in St Thomas Ontario the plant that’s being built there it is so massive it will be the fourth largest building on planet Earth that’s the commitment that we’ve made that’s the commitment that nextar Volkswagen Honda have made in batteries and that’s a commitment we’re hearing and all of the manufacturers who are coming online making all of the components for the batteries this is a sector that has just completely turned around onario okay and just in closing you haven’t yet heard from the federal government yet on whether or not they will consider those tariffs well you know we we urge them to uh follow Premier Ford’s uh recommendation it’s all about protecting our trade relationship with our number one trading partner the us we do almost a half a trillion dollars a year in two-way trade between Canada and the US almost equally split as well we’re the US’s third largest trading partner um they are our number one trading partner this is a a remarkable centuries old relationship that deserves being protected and we will do everything to protect our trade relationship to protect those jobs and and um to continue to protect that new endtoend Ed supply chain that we built from scratch okay we’re going to have to leave it there Ontario’s Economic Development Minister Vic fidelli thank you so much for taking the time today thanks Mike

Ont. Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli discusses efforts to protect investments in Canadian-made EVs.

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