LILLEY: Poll shows tepid support for tariffs on Chinese EVs
Poll of voters in auto ridings shows bare majority support 100% tariff on subsidized Chinese EVs.
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With a week to go in the Trudeau government’s consultations on putting tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, a poll of ridings with auto plants shows tepid support at best.
A poll of 801 adults in 20 federal ridings with auto manufacturing shows just a slim majority support putting tariffs on Chinese EVs.
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The issue came to the forefront just over two months ago when the Biden administration in Washington announced a 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles.
China, which heavily subsidizes their industries, was offering some vehicles for as little as $12,000 USD, which industry insiders say is below the cost of production. As the auto industry in North America shifts production towards EVs, there has been concern China would subsidize vehicle sales to capture market share before plants on this continent were up to speed.
“They’re flooding the market,” Biden said in mid-May. “It’s not competing – it’s cheating.”
The Trudeau government didn’t immediately respond to calls for them to follow suit on matching the American tariffs. There was pressure from the domestic auto industry but also other business sectors that advocated we shouldn’t be offside of our biggest trading partner on such an important issue.
In late June, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the Trudeau government would consult with industry and labour groups as well as the public on whether Canada should impose tariffs. That consultation started July 2 and wraps up on Aug. 1, meaning there is just one week left.
The poll by Pollara Strategic Insights asked questions of voters in 20 federal ridings – 15 in Ontario, four in Quebec and one in British Columbia – where auto manufacturing or parts manufacturing is present.
Surprisingly, in ridings with auto plants, just 51% support Canada placing a 100% tariff on Chinese-made EVs receiving Chinese government subsidies while 31% oppose such a move. Support was stronger in the 15 Ontario ridings, 54%, but lower in the four Quebec ridings at 42%.
The support for placing a tariff on subsidized Chinese cars is strongest among Conservatives at 63% followed by Liberals at 58%. And while just 46% of Bloc Quebecois voters support the idea and 43% of New Democrats, that’s still higher than the percentage in those parties who oppose the tariff.
Strangely, support for a tariff goes up to 55% across the board with the majority of supporters of all parties backing a tariff on EVs made in China by non-Chinese companies.
The whole idea of using tariffs sounds like it comes straight out of the 19th century – at one point tariffs were a major source of revenue for governments led by Sir John A. Macdonald or Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Since that time, we’ve become a free trading nation and tariffs seem outdated, antiquated, quaint.
They may also be necessary.
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Free trade only works if we have a level playing field with those we are trading with and we definitely don’t have that with China. This is a society that plays decades ahead, their plan in subsidizing their EVs is to gain market share here and keep it.
There is no chance we could produce cars or anything else here in North America and sell it in China with the same freedom they enjoy when selling to us. Bottom line, there is no free market with China, there is no level playing field.
Despite support for a 100% tariff being only 51%, it is still the right thing to do and, in fact, we should probably be taxing more Chinese goods coming into our country.
The poll also found that economic arguments were more likely to sway Canadians on the need for tariffs than national security arguments and fear of American retaliation on Canada did little to move the needle.
Nearly 40% of those surveyed said they would consider purchasing an EV or hybrid in the next five years but most wanted those cars to be made in Canada, the United States, Japan or Germany.
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