The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Canada's auto parts industry is worried federal consumer incentives are fuelling a boom in imports of Chinese-made Teslas, subsidizing a company with no manufacturing in this country at the expense of local industry. The Globe's Steven Chase and Jason Kirby write that Flavio Volpe, president of the Auto Parts Manufacturers' Association, said that consumer incentives offered for the purchase of electric vehicles in Canada should be aligned with the United States, which does not offer rebates for EVs made in China. Purchases of Tesla's Chinese-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles qualify for federal consumer incentives of $5,000 in this country. Mr. Volpe said by encouraging the purchase of Chinese-made EVs, Canada is helping China develop its EV capability. The danger with this is China will increasingly be competing with North American parts makers and assemblers. To qualify for a $3,750 (U.S.) credit, 50 per cent of the value of battery components must be produced or assembled in North America and 40 per cent of the value of critical minerals sourced from the U.S. or a country with which it has a free-trade agreement, which excludes China. Canada has no such rules.
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