REGINA — The Sask. Party and the NDP engaged in a war of words Wednesday over where each party stood on whether Canada ought to impose EV tariffs on China.
The day saw the Sask. Party government issue a statement touting Premier Scott Moe's calls to have Canada's EV tariffs on China removed, while the NDP’s economy and jobs critic, Aleana Young, accused Moe of a "flip-flop" and "U-turn" on the issue.
It’s just the latest in a series of squabbles between the two parties over EV tariffs. Commentators have suggested that ending Canada’s tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles might convince China to lift its retaliatory anti-dumping tariffs on Canadian canola products, which have heavily affected Saskatchewan's agriculture sector.
The issue gained prominence again this weekend after Chinese ambassador to Canada Wang Di said in an interview that if Canada removed its EV tariffs, China would also remove the tariffs on Canadian products.
Premier Moe had been calling for the federal government to remove EV tariffs to help facilitate a removal of China’s canola tariffs. But after his trip to China in September, he was quoted saying “it’s not as simple" to do that.
Moe told reporters in Saskatoon that the EV tariffs were on "because we align with the United States of America. So lifting the EV tariffs would most certainly impact the negotiations that we have with the United States of America, which is our largest trading partner in Saskatchewan and across Canada… And so it's not as simple as lifting EV tariffs. It's not as simple as one solution is going to fix all of the challenges that we have."
That quote has since come under fire from the opposition, who accused Moe of changing his position on whether EV tariffs should be removed. In a news release Wednesday, the NDP cited the above quote and other similar comments from Moe, portraying him as having been "all over the map on the issue of Chinese EV tariffs."
On Wednesday, the NDP’s Young scheduled a news conference to criticize Premier Moe again over his "not so simple" comments. But before it even started, the Sask. Party government issued its own release, saying the "opposition NDP continue to demonstrate how lost they are on tariffs and trade."
The government pointed to Premier Moe’s post on X on Sept. 3, 2024, in which he expressed concern about China implementing anti-dumping duties on canola.
“Saskatchewan is very concerned about China taking trade action against Canadian canola in response to Canadian government tariffs against Chinese electric vehicles,” his post stated. “Today, Saskatchewan’s agriculture and trade ministers wrote to their federal counterparts to tell them this must be resolved quickly.”
The government also pointed to another X post from Premier Moe this past weekend, commenting on the story where the Chinese ambassador said tariffs would be removed if Canada scrapped EV tariffs.
“Minister (Anita) Anand is in China over the next few days. This is a clear signal of how Ottawa can act this week. It’s time for Ottawa to get this deal done on behalf of 200K Canadian workers,” Moe posted.
At the legislature, the NDP’s Young continued to insist to reporters that Moe was flip-flopping.
“The Premier did at one point call for EV tariffs to be scrapped, only to suddenly change his mind a couple days after he got back from his hastily planned two-day trip to China, and he began to downplay the impact of EV tariffs on Saskatchewan farms, saying that, well, it's not that simple,” Young said.
Young then pointed to the comments of the Chinese ambassador, which “made clear it actually is that simple. Remove the tariffs on Chinese EVs and see the tariffs devastating Saskatchewan's canola industry removed."
“Now the job of the Premier of Saskatchewan is to stand up for Saskatchewan, and Scott Moe’s flip-flop on this issue is a betrayal of Saskatchewan producers. This is one of the most important issues facing Saskatchewan and our economy at this time, and producers deserve to know exactly where their Premier stands on this issue. The Premier of Manitoba has been crystal clear, the government of Alberta has been crystal clear, and yet somehow the Premier of Saskatchewan still cannot find his way to a microphone to be clear with people that the tariffs on Chinese EVs need to come off today.”
When asked about the X post by Moe reacting to the Chinese ambassador's comments, Young replied:
“Another day, perhaps another U-turn from Scott Moe, but I would say if the Premier thinks it's clear, it's remarkable that he didn't manage to say the words ‘Chinese EV tariffs’ on Twitter.”
Young also accused Moe of being “more interested in talking about the federal impact than he does talking about the direct impact here in Saskatchewan.”
“In my view, I've said it before, I will continue to say it out loud until the Premier again finds his way to a microphone, or perhaps to his phone to Tweet again, that Chinese EV tariffs need to come off. He's the Premier of Saskatchewan, he should be saying this every day out loud, to Premier Doug Ford, and to Prime Minister (Mark) Carney, because this isn't about protecting potential future jobs in Ontario, this is about protecting Saskatchewan farmers who are struggling today.”
