The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that last month Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced a month-long consultation on tariffs and other measures aimed at keeping Chinese electric vehicles out of Canada, or at least making them less appealing. The Globe's Mark Rendell writes that the consultation runs until Aug. 1. The announcement was not a surprise. In May, the United States quadrupled its tariff on Chinese EVs to 100 per cent. A few weeks later, the European Union imposed additional tariffs of between 17.4 per cent and 37.6 per cent on Chinese EV companies. The Globe says there is little doubt Canada will follow suit. The question is whether it will stick with the U.S. strategy aimed at keeping Chinese EVs off Canadian and American roads. Or follow the Europeans with a more nuanced approach, designed to level the playing field for domestic automakers but not necessarily block Chinese vehicles altogether. In January, Tesla's Elon Musk put it bluntly. He called Chinese automakers the "most competitive" in the world and warned that "they will pretty much demolish most other companies in the world" unless countries put up trade barriers. This happened a decade ago with the Chinese solar panel industry.