Here is the definitive case for dropping the Canadian tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars.
Ontario premier Doug Ford is fighting to preserve the 100-percent tariff against the Chinese imports as a means of protecting the auto industry which is under assault from the world’s two super powers, America and China. As much of the Canadian industry is located in Ontario it is a logical position for Ford to take.
When Canada imposed the protectionist measure, China retaliated with tariffs on canola and other food products, a move that Western premiers are fighting pitting the west against central Canada on this one.
Well, here is how the Canadian public reacting: it is headed in a completely different direction from Ontario.
The number of new Zero-emission vehicles being registered in this country is falling. It was rising in 2024 before the tariffs but it has been in decline for all of 2025, according to new data from StatsCanada.
Zero-emission light duty vehicles in Canada now account for less than 3-percent of all Canadian registrations, roughly equal to diesel-powered registrations, gas-powered units account for 92-percent of registrations.
