The United States will not allow Chinese-made electric vehicles entering Canada to cross into its market, according to US Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra.
Hoekstra said vehicles imported from China into Canada would be blocked from entering the US, regardless of Ottawa’s recent decision to ease tariffs on those models, reports Bloomberg.
“Those cars can come in from China, come into Canada, but they’re not going to cross the border into the US,” Hoekstra said. “We’re not going to open the floodgates to Chinese cars entering the US from Canada.”
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Hoekstra said the position is based on national security concerns, particularly that of data collection and transmission in connected vehicles. The US has already restricts vehicles using certain Chinese and Russian technology, but Hoekstra did not outline exactly what enforcing such a move at the border would entail.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney reduced tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles this past January, allowing up to 49,000 vehicles into Canada over a 12-month period. In return, China agreed to lower tariffs on Canadian agricultural exports, including canola and lobster.
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Canada had previously imposed a 100 percent tariff on Chinese EVs, in alliance with US policy at the time.
Hoekstra also minimized concerns about Canada’s role in US auto trade. He pointed out that vehicles produced in Canada often contain a high percentage of US-made parts.
“Cars going across the border are 50 percent, 75 percent US content,” he said. “Those are the kind of cars we like coming in.”
But for a couple of sketchy, short-lived gigs right out of college, Natalie Neff has had the good fortune to spend the entirety of her professional life around cars. A 2017 Honda Ridgeline, 1972 VW Beetle, 1999 Ducati Monster and a well-loved purple-and-white five-speed Schwinn currently call her garage home.
