Prime Minister Mark Carney says he has reached a deal with China to allow tens of thousands of Chinese electric vehicles into the country in exchange for lower canola duties.
He billed his first such trade deal since taking office as a "preliminary but landmark" one to remove trade barriers and reduce tariffs. It's part of a broader strategic partnership Canada is forging with China.
"It's a partnership that reflects the world as it is today, with an engagement that is realistic, respectful and interest-based," Carney told a news conference in Beijing.
Carney said Ottawa expects Beijing to drop canola seed duties to 15 per cent by March, and called that "enormous progress."
Canadian canola meal, lobsters, crabs and peas will no longer be subject to Chinese tariffs from March to at least the end of the year.
In return, Canada will allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market at a 6.1 per cent tariff rate. Carney said that will make some EVs more affordable for Canadians.
The pact comes hours after Carney met with President Xi Jinping, ending a multi-year trade dispute that began when the last Liberal government levied EV tariffs to protect Canada’s auto sector.
Carney said he raised human rights in that meeting and said Canada has a "value-based realism" to its approach.
"We fundamentally stand up for human rights, for democracy, territorial integrity, rights to self-determination," he said. "We take the world as it is, not as we wish it to be."
