Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s recent comments on imposing tariffs on Chinese materials “baloney” while speaking with reporters in Napanee, Ont.
He responded to Poilievre’s recent proposal to impose a suite of tariffs on imported Chinese goods while speaking at a press conference hosted by Goodyear Canada to announce federal subsidies for the company to expand its tire plant in Napanee.
The federal government will be contributing $44.3 million to the plant to help modernize it to make its emissions net-zero over the next two decades.
The Ontario government will also donate $20 million to the project.
When asked what he thought of Poilievre’s tariff proposal last week, Trudeau skirted the question and instead went on the attack against the Conservative leader.
“It’s a bit of a joke that Poilievre is suddenly talking about workers in the auto industry. He has said repeatedly that he wouldn’t be making these investments in our auto industry. He’d be cutting our investments in EVs,” Trudeau told reporters on Wednesday.
“We have been there every step of the way, and the federal Conservatives continue to say they’d cut it all. They don’t support it. They don’t believe in investing in Canadian workers. So for him to suddenly turn around and say, ‘Oh we’re worried about EVs’? That’s baloney.”
While Trudeau didn’t address any potential tariffs in his response, a spokesperson for Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said that the government would be unveiling its decisions on the issue “soon.”
The U.S. and Mexico have already implemented trade tariffs against China and industry leaders worry that Canada will soon become China’s main target for exports if government action is taken on home soil.
Poilievre called for the tariffs while speaking in front of Stelco steel workers in Hamilton, Ont. last week, where he accused China of producing “artificially cheap steel, aluminum and EVs.”
He said that the country’s “massively subsidized steel” is made possible by “exploiting weak environmental and labour standards.”
“They’re doing this with the goal of crushing our steel, our aluminum, and our automotive production, and taking our jobs away,” said Polievre.
He called on the Trudeau government to impose a similar suite of tariffs akin to the ones introduced by the United States.
His proposal would require Canada to introduce a 100% tariff on made-in-China EVs, a 50% tariff on semiconductors and solar cells and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum products.
True North contacted Poilievre’s office for a response to Trudeau’s comments in Napanee and a spokesperson said, “our statement stands” in regards to his original tariff proposal.