Ontario Premier Doug Ford is continuing to lambaste Canada’s new trade deal with China, claiming it favours foreign “spy vehicles” over well-paid provincial jobs.
At two separate events on Monday, Ford repeatedly criticized Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to reduce tariffs on up to 49,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles in exchange for reduced duties on Canadian canola seeds.
The decision marks a key moment in a battle between the interests of Ontario and Saskatchewan’s economies. The former has advocated for high tariffs on Chinese vehicles to protect its fledgling EV market, while the latter has seen agriculture suffer from retaliatory tariffs.
Carney appeared to side with Saskatchewan when he chose to take Premier Scott Moe with him to China, giving Ford only a few hours’ notice that he would lift some EV tariffs.
Ford said it was Minister of Internal Trade Dominic LeBlanc who gave him a warning that the deal was coming, not the prime minister.
“I’m disappointed because we had such a great relationship,” Ford said. “And I look forward to continuing the great relationship, but it’s all about communication, collaboration and partnership. At least I know where I stand, though.”
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The premier said Monday that he still hadn’t spoken to Carney about the deal, but said the prime minister knew how he felt about the agreement.
Ford said he was “extremely disappointed” by the decision and that it was a “terrible deal” that would have impacts on international relations and domestic security as well as the economy.
“I’m not too sure if President Trump wants Chinese spy vehicles coming across the border, but I bet the answer is no,” Ford told delegates at the Rural Associations of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Toronto.
“When you get on your cellphone, it’s the Chinese — and I’m not making this stuff up — they’re going to be listening to your telephone conversation.”
The deal Ford opposes allows electric vehicles from China to be sold across Canada, while some Chinese duties will be lifted on Canadian products.
Following months of negotiations, Canada has agreed to allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the country at a “most favoured nation tariff rate” of 6.1 per cent.
By 2030, half of those imported vehicles must cost less than $35,000 — a measure Carney said will ensure EVs are more affordable for Canadians.
Carney said that in return, Ottawa expects Beijing to drop canola seed duties to 15 per cent from 84 per cent by March 1.
Canadian canola meal, lobsters, crabs and peas will no longer be subject to Chinese “anti-discrimination” tariffs from March to at least the end of the year. There was no mention of canola oil, which is subject to a 100 per cent tariff, and no change was made to the 25 per cent tariff on Canadian pork.
“This is enormous progress,” Carney said, calling it a “new partnership, a new era.”
— with files from The Canadian Press
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