xi jinping
China has announced that it will initiate an anti-dumping investigation into Canadian canola and chemical exports, in apparent retribution for Ottawa’s new curbs on Chinese electric vehicle imports.
Its trade ministry said in an online statement on Tuesday that it “will initiate an anti-dumping investigation into canola imported from Canada, in accordance with the law”.
According to the ministry, local businesses recently stated that Canadian canola exports to China “have increased significantly,” reaching US$3.47 billion by 2023, while prices “have continued to fall.”
It stated that Canadian exporters were “suspected of dumping” products into the Chinese market, and that “China’s domestic canola-related industries have continued to incur losses under the influence of unfair competition by the Canadian side”.
Last month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put a 100 percent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, accusing Beijing of “not playing by the same rules as other countries” in areas such as environmental and labor regulations.
The United States and the European Union have both imposed 100% and 36% tariffs on Chinese EVs, claiming that Beijing unjustly subsidizes domestic makers, causing their products to flood international markets and undercut local competitors. China has consistently condemned the imposition of taxes and begun its own probes in retaliation.
According to the statement issued on Tuesday, Beijing is “strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed” to Canadian duties and intends to take the matter to the World Trade Organization’s dispute resolution process.
In recent years, the two countries have clashed over a wide range of topics, including trade, technology, and human rights.
Bilateral relations were severely strained for several years beginning in 2018, when Canada jailed a top executive from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, forcing Beijing to arrest two Canadian individuals in retribution.
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