Ottawa announced Monday that it will also impose additional tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminum imports from China starting October 15.
Faced with the “challenge” posed by Chinese producers “who benefit from unfair policies and practices and anti-market,” Canada acts “in concert with other economies around the world,” Trudeau said.
The West accuses China of destroying competition in other sectors such as wind power, solar panels and batteries for electric vehicles. The latest announcement follows a similar one made by the United States in May and another by the European Union (EU) which imposed tariffs of up to 38% last July.
Canada’s vehicle decision includes electric cars, trucks, buses and delivery vans and some hybrid models.
“We must defend Canadian jobs and Canadian interests,” Trudeau insisted.
Canada has been seeking for years to attract major players in the electric mobility sector, through tax incentives, its clean energy policies and its significant reserves of rare minerals used to manufacture batteries for the automotive sector.
