Liberal Minister says Chinese automakers are “eager” to “produce in Canada”
Ottawa moves to expand Chinese EV imports while questions over forced labour safeguards go unanswered.
China’s state-subsidized EV makers are being lined up for a major slice of Canada’s auto market, even as Ottawa won’t clearly explain how it plans to enforce its own forced-labour import ban.
“All Chinese EV makers I met [want] access to the 49,000-vehicle import quota and are willing to explore joint ventures in Canada to produce in Canada,” Joly told reporters, without further detail.
“Are you still prepared to increase the quota every year?” asked a reporter. “That quota would be increasing,” replied Joly.
Cabinet on March 11 approved a 278,989-vehicle quota for Chinese EV imports over five years—about half of Canada’s EV market—without explaining how they would comply with the existing forced-labour import ban, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
The U.S. Department of Labour, Human Rights Watch, and other analysts have flagged Chinese EV supply chains as linked to Uyghur forced labour in Xinjiang, while Parliament has twice declared China’s treatment of Uyghurs to constitute genocide, citing forced sterilization, torture, and forced labour.
