Canada has imported 15,603 Chinese-made electric vehicles under a trade deal signed in January, less than one-third of the number allowed this year, according to The Globe and Mail.
The agreement between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping allows up to 49,000 Chinese-made EVs into Canada in 2026 at a reduced tariff of 6.1 per cent. Canada previously imposed a 100-per-cent tariff.
In return, China agreed to temporarily lower retaliatory tariffs on Canadian products, including seafood and canola seed.
Huzaif Qaisar, a spokesperson for International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu, told The Globe that some Chinese automakers are still seeking approval to sell their vehicles in Canada.
Three companies have received access to the import quota, but Qaisar declined to identify them, citing commercial confidentiality. Other companies are considering entering the Canadian market.
About half of the vehicles imported so far had an import price below $35,000, he said. It’s likely most of these are from Tesla, which has been shipping cars over from its Gigafactory in Shanghai, mainly the new entry Model 3 RWD Premium priced from an aggressive $39,490 CAD, which is about $13,000 cheaper than its US equivalent.
Ottawa also wants Chinese automakers to partner with Canadian businesses to build EVs in Canada using Canadian workers and supply chains.
Carney and Xi are expected to review the trade arrangement when they meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China in roughly 10 weeks.
While it’s nice to see some more options for consumers here, the 49,000 cap won’t make a real dent in the car market here, which saw 1.9 million cars sold in 2024 according to StatsCan data.
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