The Globe and Mail: Canada can lead EV supply chain despite trade war and murky policies, industry players say

Canada has the critical minerals, precision manufacturing expertise and assembly capacity to be a key player as trade relationships shift electric-vehicle supply chain, from mining to manufacturing, though it’s become more difficult amid the strained trade relationship with the United States and murky policies toward the sector at home.

The Canadian EV industry has been battered this year by the termination of failed battery manufacturer Northvolt’s Quebec manufacturing plant, U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Canada’s auto sector and threats to stop imports, and the expiry of federal incentives for EV buyers.

However, it remains clear that the costs of EVs are falling as technology improves, and that their worldwide share of the market will keep expanding, displacing internal combustion engines, said Bentley Allan, vice-president of future economy at the Canadian non-profit Transition Accelerator.

Canada has the critical minerals, precision manufacturing expertise and assembly capacity to be a key player as trade relationships shift, said Mr. Allan, who is also an associate professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University.

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Some countries outside the U.S., such as Indonesia, Egypt and Ethiopia, import Chinese EVs and conduct final assembly domestically because of the economic advantages, such as reducing oil and gasoline imports, rather than climate aims, he said.

This shows opportunity for Canada as Ottawa prepares a climate competitiveness strategy that includes developing the EV battery industry.

“There are also just these underlying thermodynamic advantages to electric vehicles, which are going to continue to drive the market globally,” Mr. Allan said. “So this is going to be a market that we can export into, that we can continue to be competitive in and that we do really have strengths in. Every other country in the world would love to have our critical minerals base, our midstream chemicals expertise.”

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