Tesla has used about 12% of Canada’s first-window quota for Chinese-built EVs, the only automaker yet to move volume under the new system announced last January.
Global Affairs Canada data show 2,910 vehicles imported under the quota as of May 29, against a cap of 24,500 for the window that opened March 1 and runs to August 31.
The figures leave 21,590 permits available.
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Car shipments from Shanghai adds roughly four to six weeks, so even permits filed on day one would not have landed cars much before mid-spring.
The 2,910 figure equals 11.9% of the window’s allocation, and competitors have yet to register a single unit.
At this pace, Tesla could claim a large share of the 24,500 ceiling before the window closes at the end of August.
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I’m confused, why does an American manufacturer count towards a Chinese quota?
These cars come from Tesla’s plant in Shanghai, China.
This is the worst of both worlds.
Tesla should be excluded.
On the other hand, having Tesla mixed in the bunch does poison the straw man argument that Chinese EVs come from slave labour… the slave labour allegation instantly becomes a self own if the company responsible is from the USA.
There is ample evidence for forced labour in China, and this includes not just BYD and other Chinese automakers but foreign brands, too.
Yes, and there is ample evidence for forced labour in Canada too. I didn’t imply that there isn’t, but I am saying that China is held to a different standard in that regard
China isn’t held to a different standard. Labour rights are much weaker in China than in Western democracies (Xi Jinping has been rejected social welfare frequently as, according to him, it makes people 'lazy), coercive practices are more widespread (the 996 working culture in China is well-known), and particularly supply chain transparency in China is non-existent.
Just look what Chinese carmaker BYD has done in its factories in Brazil and in Hungary.
Forced labour is bad everywhere if it happens, but your argument amounts to whataboutism.
It is, and nothing you said is evidence of the contrary. Labour rights in the US are much weaker than western democracies (Republicans have rejected social welfare frequently as, according to them, it’s socialism). And?
These reflect the labour relations in Brazil and in Hungary.
It would be if I were saying that slave labour in China isn’t a bad thing because Canada also does it. It’s not what I’m saying. China has a forced labour problem, but using it to control car imports is to hold China to different standards unless you support that Canada should also be subject to international sanctions on our agricultural exports.
Brazil and Hungary (after Orban lost the election) closed down the factories. China uses integrated supply chains across all industries (meaning they bring their own Chinese migrant workers), not just in the EV sector, and the Chinese Communist Party has been heavily lobbying against supply chain transparency. Why?
Forced labour must be eliminated everywhere. It doesn’t make sense to justify EV imports from China with alleged forced labour in Canada. It must be eliminated. Blocking imports of goods made by slavery is, of course, absolutely necessary.
Xi Jinping rejects social welfare as, according to him, China could “fall into the trap of supporting lazy people."
Edit: Seems the Republicans and the Chinese Communist Party are much closer than they admit.