Beijing says it will impose tariffs on Canadian agricultural and food products in retaliation for Ottawa’s levies on Chinese electric vehicles, stoking greater uncertainty over the North American country’s economy.
China’s commerce ministry on Saturday said it would impose 100 per cent tariffs on Canadian rapeseed oil and pea imports and a 25 per cent levy on pork and some seafood imports.
It said it was responding to “discriminatory” tariffs of 100 per cent on electric vehicles and 25 per cent on steel and aluminium that Ottawa announced in August, which followed similar actions by the US.
In response, Beijing filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization and launched an anti-dumping probe into Canadian imports of rapeseed products.
China is an important market for Canadian rapeseed, a crop also known as canola. China bought $3.5bn worth of Canadian canola products, including oil and seeds, making it the largest market behind the US, according to the Canola Council of Canada trade group.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused China of “not playing by the same rules” when he announced the tariffs on Chinese EVs and metals in August. Carmaking is one of Canada’s most important manufacturing sectors, with plants supplying the US market.
What does it mean to “play fair”? Who made the rules and what is so unfair about what China is doing? If it works why don’t we do it too?
So state owned industry is more efficient than privatized industry, is that what you’re complaining about? Then why don’t we in the West adopt the same model as China? Why don’t we nationalize our industries as well so we can provide our car manufacturers with cheap parts? Why is it “unfair” to have a better economic model? And what’s wrong with subsidies? Our states give out a ton of subsidies too, including to agriculture, fossil fuel, and yes the auto industry.
This is fundamentally an anti-free trade position. I thought that’s what capitalism was about: whoever makes their product cheaper than their competitors wins in the free market competition, no? And if there’s a problem with the quality then the market will adjust for that. People who are short on cash will buy the cheaper but less qualitative products, while those with more money will be able to afford higher quality. Isn’t that how the free market is supposed to work?
Only…China’s EV’s aren’t even low quality, are they? They’re cheaper and they’re just as good or better. So what you’re saying is they’re simply outcompeting us. And because we can’t compete we need to shut them out.
Ok…well, i have no issue with that logic. Only please let’s apply it to the rest of the world as well. When developing countries can’t compete with Western industrial products, they should be allowed to tariff them as much as necessary or even shut them out entirely to support their own domestic production. You agree then that the WTO and IMF shouldn’t go to them and force them to open up their markets or sign free trade agreements?
When you agree to buy something you don’t just give the other party money for nothing. In return you get a product, presumably of equal value to what you paid. So isn’t your country being also enriched equally when it buys EVs? This is the liberal free trade theory right? If you freely agreed to a trade it must be fair. There is no such thing as an unequal trade in liberal theory. You’re not some kind of godless Marxist, are you?
In fact, if these vehicles are somehow “artificially cheap” (putting aside the little inconsistency that liberal economics doesn’t recognize the labor theory of value and instead maintains that value comes purely from exchange, meaning that a product is technically always worth exactly what you are willing to pay for it), then aren’t you getting an awesome deal? You get EVs that, according to you, are supposed to be worth more than what you paid for them since China is “cheating” and making them cheaper than they should be. Which means your country actually is getting richer in this exchange!
So what’s the problem? Isn’t having abundant, cheap EVs good for the people and good for the environment? Why do you want poor people to not be able to afford EVs?
Ah yes, the old Yellow Peril McCarthyist tactic. Great choice. Always a sign of healthy politics and good social stability when your politicians and media start to foster an atmosphere of paranoia and accuse people of a different ethnicity of being spies, saboteurs and traitors to the nation. How dare the evil other interfere in our country when we have never, ever meddled in their internal affairs!
Canada would never support false allegations to discredit China’s government, or back separatists and violent mobs in order to destabilize China! Canada would never associate with opposition politicians in other countries whose government they don’t like. Never!