Canada deal on Chinese EVs shows trade ‘trumped national security’: experts
Global News
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has warned about the cybersecurity concerns around Chinese electric vehicles, which he called 'spy vehicles,' echoing comments from 2024.
Chinese electric vehicles still pose a national security threat despite Canada lifting its tariff blockade, security experts warn, adding that nothing has changed since the previous federal government voiced concerns nearly two years ago.
Yet those experts also warn that the cybersecurity and privacy threats extend beyond Chinese-made vehicles to any car connected to the internet, which requires a robust response from Ottawa.
The new trade deal signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Jan. 16 allows for up to 49,000 Chinese EVs to enter Canada at a significantly reduced tariff rate of 6.1 per cent in exchange for China lifting tariffs on Canadian agricultural goods.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has blasted the deal, warning not only about the impact on the province’s auto sector but also the cybersecurity concerns around Chinese EVs, which he has called “spy vehicles.”
“When you get on your cellphone, it’s the Chinese — and I’m not making this stuff up — they’re going to be listening to your telephone conversation,” he told delegates at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference in Toronto last week.
Experts say the potential for Chinese governments or businesses to use internet-connected vehicles to listen in on drivers’ phone calls or record their movements remains a very real threat, particularly to the Chinese diaspora in Canada.
There are also broader cybersecurity concerns, said Neil Bisson, director of the Global Intelligence Knowledge Network and a retired intelligence officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
“It just allows another portal into our infrastructure, both communication-wise and energy-wise, because we’ll be plugging these vehicles into our own electric infrastructure,” he said in an interview.
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