The Federal Liberals under Prime Minister Trudeau have made significant investments in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing infrastructure in recent years with the goal of establishing Canada as a major economic player in this fast-growing segment of the automobile market. This is part of its much larger effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by hastening a green shift in the economy away from fossil-fuel dependent activities. One challenge facing Canada, however, is that China made such investments in EV manufacturing years earlier and is now poised to flood the global market with lower-cost EVs, potentially undercutting Canada’s efforts to grow its manufacturing capacity in this area.
As a response, PM Trudeau announced a major policy change concerning EV imports during a recent Federal Cabinet retreat in Halifax. Specifically, the federal liberals will impose a 100% import tariff (tax) on imported EVs made in China, which would essentially double the cost of such cars to consumers here. See: “Trudeau says Canada will slap big tariffs on Chinese-made EVs”: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-halifax-tariffs-china-evs-1.7304773). The short article briefly discusses the rationale for and implications of this policy change.
For this assignment, research this topic and write a short essay that addresses the following two questions:
1) Explain the rational/justification for implementing such a policy. Consider both what the Federal Government is stating publicly about it, but also consider some of the underlying political and economic factors that might be at play here.
2) Do you think this policy of sharply increasing tariffs on low-cost Chinese EV imports is smart climate policy? Why or why not? Consider possible short and long-term implications.
Write in a CLEAR, CONCISE essay format. Your paper should be about 1,200 words in length (about 5 double-spaced pages) and include at least 5 references.