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Bochen Han

US President Donald Trump on Friday brushed aside concerns over a Canada-China trade deal involving Ottawa agreeing to reduce tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, saying it was “a good thing” for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to pursue the deal.
“That’s OK. That’s what he should be doing. It’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal. If you can get a deal with China, you should do that,” Trump said, when asked about the agreement announced earlier in the day.
The remarks not only contrast with earlier comments from US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer but also mark a departure from previous US policy that pushed Ottawa to align with Washington’s 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese EVs.
Asked about Ottawa’s decision to allow up to ‍49,000 Chinese EVs into Canada at a preferential rate of 6.1 per cent and how it may affect trilateral trade negotiations with the US and Mexico, Greer ‌said the decision was “problematic” and that Canada may come to regret it “in the long run”.


“There’s ⁠a reason why we don’t sell a lot of Chinese cars in the United States. It’s because we have tariffs to protect American auto workers and Americans from those vehicles,” he said on CNBC.
Greer did not specify how the deal might impact the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is up for joint review this year, but noted that the US “is always going to have an outsized role” in Canada’s economy.
Greer’s messaging was aligned with that of Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who said Carney’s deal would cost Canadian workers.
“The federal government is inviting a flood of cheap made-in-China electric vehicles without any real guarantee of equal or immediate investments in Canada’s economy, auto sector or supply chain,” Ford said in a Friday social media post.
Ford added that lowering tariffs on Chinese EVs risked “closing the door on Canadian automakers to the American market, our largest export destination”.
Trump had already signalled his stance on Chinese electric vehicles earlier this week, reiterating remarks from the 2024 presidential campaign in which he said he was open to Chinese carmakers building factories in the US.
“If they want to come in and build a plant and hire you and hire your friends and your neighbours, that’s great, I love that,” Trump said on Tuesday in Detroit. “Let China come in.”
Greer, however, made clear on Friday that rules adopted last January on internet-connected vehicles and navigation systems are a significant impediment to Chinese vehicles in the US.

“I think it would be hard for them to operate here,” he said. “There are rules and regulations in place in America about the cybersecurity of our vehicles and ‌the systems ⁠that go into those, so I think it might be hard for the Chinese to comply.”
Congressional opposition to Chinese auto investment in the US was also underscored earlier this week, following reports that Ford was considering purchasing batteries from Chinese EV maker BYD.
In a Thursday statement, John Moolenaar of the House Select Committee on the Communist Party said that such a partnership would “diminish Ford’s status as an iconic American company”.
“China has already shown in recent months that it will weaponise the auto supply chain … Ford should work with our nation’s allies, not our adversaries,” the Republican congressman said.
Carney reached what he described as a “landmark” trade deal with China on Friday, securing relief from Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs on Canadian agricultural products such as canola seeds, imposed after Canada slapped tariffs on Chinese EVs in 2024.
He was the first Canadian prime minister to visit China since 2017 as Ottawa seeks to rebuild ties with its second-largest trading partner after the US and diversify away from Washington.


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Despite Trump’s support for landmark accord, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Ottawa may regret its decision ‘in the long run’


Despite Trump’s support for landmark accord, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Ottawa may regret its decision ‘in the long run’.


Trump shrugs off concerns over Canada-China EV deal, calls it a ‘good thing’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Despite Trump’s support for landmark accord, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Ottawa may regret its decision ‘in the long run’

Despite Trump’s support for landmark accord, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Ottawa may regret its decision ‘in the long run’