US trade chief Tai lauds Canada's steep new tariffs on Chinese EV, metals

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Thursday gave a strong endorsement to Canada's decision to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles and 25% on Chinese steel and aluminum as she finalizes U.S. duties planned at similar rates.

In a statement issued by her office, Tai applauded Canada's decision to take strong action against China's "state-directed, unfair, and anti-competitive non-market policies and practices, which threaten the existence of our market-oriented industries."

She said this was an important step to ensure that Canada's workers and companies could compete fairly in the electric vehicle, steel and aluminum industries.

"We share Canada's concerns over the PRC's unfair, non-market policies and practices and its failure to uphold labor rights, enforce environmental protections, and promote fair, market-oriented competition," Tai said, using the acronym for the People's Republic of China.

Canada announced on Tuesday that it will impose the tariffs starting on Oct. 1, including on EVs made in China by U.S.-based Tesla, to counter what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called China's intentional, state-directed policies that have created excess production capacity in these industries.

The move comes as the U.S. trade representative is expected to announce final implementation plans by the end of August for tariffs on $18 billion worth of Chinese imports, including duties of 100% on EVs, 50% on semiconductors and solar cells, and 25% on lithium-ion batteries.

Many U.S. companies have asked for the duties to be eased, and exclusions expanded, but a U.S. official told Reuters in Beijing that the expectation was for the Biden-Harris administration to follow through with well-communicated intentions on the tariffs.

(Reporting by David Lawder; editing by Jonathan Oatis)