Live data from Hacker News

Canada slashes 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6%

electrek.co

151–160 of 640 posts

Re: Canada slashes 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6%

#151
post #23

Good. Carney also remarked our relationship with China is now more predictable with our relationship with the states (wild shade coming from him) just to really make it clear to certain parties why this is happening. Cheaper car options in this country will be nice, and I say this as a certified car hater who's yet to own one despite pushing 40.

Who wants to be a trade partner with the US these days? I honestly ask people who aren't fully indoctrinated or already have ties established?

Its a dependency that I have to think almost all countries/businesses are evaluating. How do you do business and set up long term supply chains in a country can't trust that the economic policy of today exists in 3 months, they are actively trying to undermine their currency and the system of law is under heavy pressure to the point of failure.

It is tough to be supportive of the United States under this administration or that the future state of the US will be more sound. Having their formally closest trade partner looking over to China for trade is a massive signal.

The trade off is the market is large and strong financial (availability of capital) foundation - but I fear thats changing.

Re: Canada slashes 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6%

#152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a complete sea change. I feel Canada only set tariffs on cars out of some deference to the US auto industry. I don’t want to use slippery slope thinking, but this to me smells like rolling out a Canadian auto market that is not dependent on the US. For the average family, being able to spend significantly less on a car is a big deal.

Keep in mind that the US auto industry is also very much a Canadian one. A lot of Big Three stuff happens across the border in Ontario. But all the policy support that would have let North American automakers build up a competitive position with China is gone, so this is more about just acknowledging reality now.

> Keep in mind that the US auto industry is also very much a Canadian one.

As someone who's worked in the auto industry (in Canada) I have to 'hard disagree.' The big three have proven time and time again that we (Canadians) are second-class citizens when it comes to how they operate the facilities built here. Even before any of this nonsensical tariff nonsense, billions in government money has been given to the likes of Stellantis and GM over the years in an effort to keep jobs in Canada, with them putting in the bare-minimum effort to satisfy people in the short-term and thanking us by continuing their movement of production out of the country. Instead of trying to talk the president down from his pointlessly harmful tariffs, or doing what Toyota/Honda have done in pivoting to building worldwide models beside the domestic ones, the big three are gleefully taking the opportunity to expedite the closure or downsizing of facilities here.

Outside of the chuds who 'need' a pickup truck to satisfy their fragile ego, sales of "American" vehicles are starting to drop, with buyers choosing domestically-produced where possible (like the Toyota Rav4, Lexus NX/RX, or Honda Civic/CR-V).[0]

[0]: https://ca.investing.com/news/economy-news/market-share-of-u...

Re: Canada slashes 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6%

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the US “do friends?” Does France? Does any country?

Shared values do have meaning and an importance. They used to mean a fair bit especially when you needed to fight an aggressor.

So, out of the 2 countries situated north of Mexico, whose leader has taken a huge deviation from these "shared values"?

Re: Canada slashes 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6%

#154
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

neither does America, and they're much closer and dangerous to us at this time.

[flagged]

> The U.S. does NATO and foots the majority of the bill and human resources for North Atlantic defense. That includes Canada

For how much longer? NATO won't survive this administration.

Re: Canada slashes 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6%

#155

I wonder if this might even be below reasonable "subsidy-compensation" tariff levels. BYD, for reference, got almost 30% of their 2024 income from the Chinese state (~$1.4b). But this is always difficult to judge because most nations help local industry to some degree, and it can be quite difficult to compare.

While Americans very frequently complain that the Chinese state subsidizes various industries, I am astonished that they do not see any similarity with the fact that I never heard of any really big investment project in USA, e.g. the building of any new big factory or new company headquarters, that was done otherwise than after receiving very substantial tax reductions of various kinds from the local government of the place chosen for the project. In many parts of Europe those kinds of tax reductions would be illegal, being considered a form of state aid for a private company.

Re: Canada slashes 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6%

#156
A Canadian satire site has the headline "Canada chooses lawful evil over chaotic evil":

* https://thebeaverton.com/2026/01/canada-chooses-lawful-evil-...

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alignment_(Dungeons_%26_Dragon...

Edit: A comment in /r/canada:

> TBF I would much rather work for Lex Luthor than The Joker if I had to choose one.

Re: Canada slashes 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6%

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a complete sea change. I feel Canada only set tariffs on cars out of some deference to the US auto industry. I don’t want to use slippery slope thinking, but this to me smells like rolling out a Canadian auto market that is not dependent on the US. For the average family, being able to spend significantly less on a car is a big deal.

Keep in mind that the US auto industry is also very much a Canadian one. A lot of Big Three stuff happens across the border in Ontario. But all the policy support that would have let North American automakers build up a competitive position with China is gone, so this is more about just acknowledging reality now.

It was. Then the U.S. turned into whatever the hell you call all that.

Now we have U.S. automakers who are derefential to the current regime's leader and are pulling out. The Federal and Ontario government both tried to somehow make them happy, but you can't make that kind of monster happy. So it's time to move on.

Re: Canada slashes 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6%

#158
Canadians are incredibly pissed at Trump and his criminal TechBros. This change here is largely due to that.

Trump threatening invasion of Greenland is also aimed against Canada; the USA would have more and more military bases threatening Canada, so Trump's anti-Greenland policy is heavily aimed at threatening Canada rather than China or Russia. One can see how he helps Putin versus Ukraine - one can not trust Trump.

Re: Canada slashes 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6%

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

25 years?! Hardly https://www.brokerlink.ca/blog/how-long-do-cars-last-in-cana... > In 2020, the Automotive Industries Association of Canada (AIA Canada) reported the average age of Canadian vehicles was 9.7 years, though many industry experts believe that number is closer to 10.5 years today.

Recent CATL independent battery testing has demonstrated 1.25 million mile longevity for battery modules produced. While EV uptake may take time, the EVs that are built will be with us for some time. That equates to 62 years of service life assuming ~20k miles/year

Propulsion is not the issue. Quality cars' engines last just fine for decades, if maintained.

Cars in the north have major rust problems, even if you're exceptionally careful, from exposure to snow and road salt.

Re: Canada slashes 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6%

#160
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cars last ~25 years, 49,000 * 25 = 1.2 million Chinese EV’s on the road in a steady state. Not such as huge shift in total, but EV’s are still a small percentage of total vehicle sales in Canada.

25 years?! Hardly https://www.brokerlink.ca/blog/how-long-do-cars-last-in-cana... > In 2020, the Automotive Industries Association of Canada (AIA Canada) reported the average age of Canadian vehicles was 9.7 years, though many industry experts believe that number is closer to 10.5 years today.

If the average car on the road is 10.5 years old, and you assume a flat demand, it is consistent with the lifespan of all cars being exactly 21 years.

(if you look at a random sampling of 100 cars, 5 will be from this year, 5 from 2025, and so on until you've counted the 5 cars from 2005 ; the average age will be 10.5 years)

If you assume that there are more cars sold every year (due to demographics: way more humans are alive today than in 2005), then this is consistent with a useful lifespan of 25 years or more per car since the "10.5" average is skewed younger because of the age pyramid bias.

Post reply on HN