By Carol Baldwin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Wakaw Recorder
August 29, 2025
Premier Scott Moe said he would like the federal government to remove its 100 percent electric-vehicle tariff on China. “From Saskatchewan’s perspective, I would say, ‘Yes, let’s remove the EV tariffs,’” he told reporters on Tuesday, August 26th.
Canada is the world’s largest exporter of canola, shipping almost $5 billion of canola products to China in 2024, about 80 percent of which was seed. China was Saskatchewan’s second-largest export market in 2024, receiving nearly $4 billion in agri-food products. The United States is Saskatchewan’s largest export market for canola.
When he was asked how Canada could remove the electric vehicle tariff without angering President Donald Trump, the Premier said there are sensitivities to consider. “That’s the challenge, and it isn’t easy,” he said.
Julian Karaguesian, an economist and lecturer at McGill University in Montreal, believes it is time to rethink the tariffs on China. The idea of building a closer trade relationship with China is still somewhat taboo, he said, and some have been “aghast” when he has suggested it. But he argues that Canada’s stance against China has largely been to appease the U.S.: “What business quarrels do we have with China that aren’t manufactured in Washington?” (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-china-electric-vehicles-1.7486204)
Last year, a former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, said of the tariffs that Canada “had to go with the U.S. position, when you think about the economic integration that we have with the U.S. More than 75% of our exports go to the U.S.,” referring to the electric-vehicle tariff. (https://apnews.com/article/canada-china-evs-tariffs-0cd68ba7533bc6e7111cdd5811c8889c) Saint-Jacques warned that Canada should expect retaliation from China in other industries, adding that barley and pork were candidates because the Chinese can acquire what they needed from other countries; he did not, apparently, see a potential for tariffs on canola a year ago. A Chinese tariff of nearly 76 percent on Canadian canola oilseed came into effect on August 14th, a year after China launched an anti-dumping investigation into Canadian canola and one month after Canada imposed tariffs on steel. These tariffs are widely seen as retaliatory, following Canada’s decision to place tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. In March this year, China imposed a 100 percent tariff on Canadian canola oil, oil cakes and pea imports, and importers of canola meal, used mainly in animal feed, also now face a 100 percent duty on canola meal if they release, for sale in China, the cargoes already sitting in secure warehouses near Chinese ports. Saskatchewan produces 55 percent of Canada’s canola. With canola oil as Saskatchewan’s third-highest agri-food export, and canola meal the sixth, in 2023, Saskatchewan farmers are reeling.
Hugo Cordeau, a PhD candidate in economics at the University of Toronto who researches climate policies, said he worries about a potential backlash from the U.S. if Canada were to remove its tariffs on Chinese EVs, saying there may be a middle ground. The European Union increased its surtax on Chinese EVs from the usual 10 percent to as high as 45 percent and is incentivizing Chinese companies to open factories in Europe. “I think we misstepped initially, I think we should have went [sic] with the EU,” Cordeau said. “I think there’s probably still time to align with the EU without 100 percent dropping the policy.”
He believes that in the long run, allowing more competition would also be good for the Canadian auto industry, which he said has so far focused on high-end, luxury EVs, and allowing cheaper EVs into the market would benefit Canadian consumers. Chinese automaker BYD debuted its Seagull EV last year at a starting price of about $14,600 Cdn for a 305-kilometre-range version. The cheapest options available in Canada, by contrast, start at roughly $40,000 and have a range of only 227 km. (https://ev.plugndrive.ca/vehicles)
Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association president and CEO Brian Kingston said last year in support of the tariffs, “North Americans love to drive larger vehicles, pickup trucks and SUVs. You’re seeing electrified formats of those vehicles with increasingly large ranges. So yes, the options to Canadians are getting better every single day, and prices over time will become increasingly competitive.”
Sumeet Gulati, a professor in environmental and resource economics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, said allowing cheaper Chinese vehicles onto the market could also spur more charging stations, the lack of which is seen as one of the biggest deterrents for consumers considering buying an EV.
Since 2020, Canada has attracted more than $46 billion in investments for 13 electric vehicle, battery and battery component manufacturing projects, according to a June 18, 2024, report from the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. David Adams, president and CEO of Global Automakers of Canada, said opening the doors to Chinese EVs now would render Canada’s investments in the sector pointless, because the Chinese vehicles would take over the market.
The switch to EVs and the transition away from gasoline vehicles is more than just a technological shift; it is a cultural one. It represents a move towards sustainability, environmental consciousness, and a cleaner future for generations to come, and it is possible. Norway reached 97 percent EV sales in June 2025, phasing out gas cars for good. (https://www.electricvehicleshq.com/post/the-gas-car-is-history-norway-reaches-97-ev-sales-in-june-2025-milestone#google_vignette) This achievement was largely driven by long-term government policies, especially tax exemptions that made EVs the cheaper option for buyers.
It is one thing to make EVs affordable, but it is another to make them practical. Norway invested heavily in a nationwide public charging infrastructure. You can’t expect people to switch to electric if they’re constantly worried about running out of juice. The government provided subsidies and incentives to build out EV charging stations across the country, ensuring that they were readily available in cities and along major highways. As the market matured and EVs became increasingly popular, the government began strategically phasing out some of the incentives.
Once EVs started to gain traction, a network effect kicked in. More EVs on the road meant more charging stations, which made EVs more convenient, which led to more EV sales, and so on. This positive feedback loop created a snowball effect, accelerating the transition to electric vehicles.
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Some of the biggest pushback against a transition to electric passenger vehicles has come from the prairie provinces, the exporters of the “goods the world needs.” Now the game is at hand, as governments try to appease two markets.
