Image Credit: Mark Apolloa, via Facebook
Tesla has become caught in the tariff cross-fire between the Donald Trump administration and erstwhile US allies, with Canadian provinces and the federal government extending the company’s exclusion from its EV rebate programs, and the UK considering a similar ban.
As we reported earlier this month, the province of British Columbia and the City of Toronto excluded Tesla from their EV rebate and incentive programs, although the focus at that time appeared to be on Elon Musk. “It’s just for Tesla, and it’s because of Elon Musk,” BC premier David Elby told journalists.
That ban has now extended to other provinces. In Nova Scotia, multiple parties joined together for a near unanimous vote to exclude Tesla from its EV rebate program, citing both Musk’s association with Trump, and the tariffs. Manitoba has also excluded Tesla.
The Canadian federal government is also looking to exclude Tesla from all programs. The newly appointed transport minister Chrystia Freeland, who had proposed 100 per cent tariffs on Tesla during the recent campaign to replace Justin Trudeau as head of the Liberal Party, said Tesla will not be eligible for any incentives.
She also announced an investigation into revelations that Tesla at claimed $C43 million in government rebates just before the program was paused earlier this month. Those rebates have now been frozen.
“No payments will be made until we are confident that the claims are valid,” Freeland told the Toronto Star. “I also directed my department to change the eligibility criteria for future iZEV programs to ensure that Tesla vehicles will not be eligible for incentives so long as the illegitimate and illegal U.S. tariffs are imposed against Canada.”
The firestorm also risks extending to the UK, which has been Tesla’s one bright market spot in Europe over the last two months, showing an increase in sales as opposed to the sharp falls recorded on the continent, where Tesla sales have slumped by more than 70 per cent in some countries despite an overall surge in the uptake of EVs.
“We are looking at the zero emission vehicle mandate … (and) the money goes to Tesla, and looking at how we can better support the car manufacturing industry in the UK,” UK finance minister Rachel Reeves said in response to the Trump tariff moves.
Tesla has warned that it could be badly impacted by the tariff war, although Musk himself has not made it a centrepiece of his regular public statements, which instead have focused on support for far-right causes, and attacks on the judiciary and media who criticise his work with DOGE.
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.
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If we all ignore Donny Musket "tariffs" the result will in the first couple of years as (possibly) US manufacturers increase their productivity (Donny Trumpets plan). Until then imported cars will cost more and possibly sell less of them in the US. If international manufacturers wish they could increase sales in other markets, possibly to meet existing demand, or reduce prices.
Who suffers? USA. When the USA starts exporting more cars we impose import tariffs.
It will only be awkward in 4 years' time, if all these measures have a net positive impact on USA's economy.
Still not sure what any of this has to do with cars we receive in Australia, as they all come from Vietnam, Korea, Japan and China?
Also, how good is commenting now.
*insert consistently disregarded community*
*insert consistently disregarded community*
4 words that are recognisable as belonging within the english language.
Scratching my head as to whom you might be referring and, just as importantly, where they should be inserted?
The rest of your post doesn't fare much better. It's literally impossible that ALL cars arriving here come from just the 4 countries you mention.
Impossible today! What is to come can only be speculated about. And using ALL might be a bit excessive but when the numbers hit say 75% I'd say that is pretty much ALL. The other 25% will just be niche vehicles filling niche segments so hardly significant at ALL.
75%='pretty much all.'
Wow!
I hope you're not a maths teacher bill.
Trade wars always have casualties and create for bumpy rides. As a Canadian I don't relish the idea of having to navigate this mess (higher prices for everything?) but at least you (Oz) have access to cheap Chinese vehicles which will be the only thing on the menu if Trump/Musk are wrong about the direction they are trying to steer to. Musk has been right all along so far with every business venture he has taken on and so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here, even to the point of listening to Trump and his schtick! We are in extremely dire times here and if the US doesn't solve it's debt problems, the massive ship USS America goes down and so will every other major western nation too. This isn't fun and games.
Most people in oz couldn't give a monkey's about american debt.
The yanks should be kicked out of nato for the way they are trying to carve up ukraine with russian help.
The sooner everyone goes cold turkey on their american dependency, and becomes more self reliant, the better.
So, lesson learned. Thanks america!
To me this is an indication of the worst parts of democracy, mob rule! Instead of leaders leading, they are afraid of the political fallout that being honest, responsible and informative would bring. The masses have been whipped up to hysteria and their brains have gone out the window.....pitchforks and hangman nooses it is!! Tesla has done nothing but make our planet a safer, cleaner place to live with a better chance of surviving the climate catastrophe we seem to be entering. Up until recently I pictured neighborhoods actually ganging up and peer pressuring ICE car owners to ditch their exhaust spewing silent killers (we banned cigarette smoking in public places didn't we?) but now it seems it is the cleanest, best of the EV offerings that we will be booting out. Crazy, upside down world we are allowing ourselves to create. Tesla is the only auto maker that has a chance of stopping/softening the impact of the Chinese auto invasion. And all because Elon is trying to save the world from bankruptcy by rooting out waste and corruption in the US government. Look kiddies, if the US goes down, how long do you think it will be until the rest of the world follows suit? Nuts, absolutely nuts!
Nor enough forums in canada to vent your spleen on bill?
Your pro u.s, pro tesla rationalisations have a whiff of vested interest about them.
The US isn't going down due to debt. They print the world's reserve currency after all, though if they alienate enough other nations that status could one day be in doubt. Their answer to the debt problem, which has been caused by repeated tax cuts for the rich, will not be solved by trying to slash services provided to everyone else, which by the way will then result in more tax cuts for the rich, furthering the problem. Anyway, for all the destruction and harm DOGE is causing, they've saved barely any money so far.