Canada also wants to impose a 100% additional tariff on Chinese ships in the shipping industry
Canada has joined a growing list of shipbuilding nations taking aim at the world's dominant shipbuilders. Colin Cook, president and CEO of the Canadian Marine Industries and Shipbuilding Association (CMISA), has issued a strong call to the Ottawa government to impose tariffs on Chinese-made ships, echoing similar calls from the United States and Europe.
CMISA wants to extend this policy to Chinese ships, which Cook has emphasized in public statements is aimed at addressing a growing "strategic threat." It pointed out that China's shipbuilding industry has adopted a strategy of military-civilian integration, through subsidies for commercial ship exports to enhance the country's military capabilities.
Not only is CMISA proposing a 100 per cent surcharge on all vessels imported from China, it is also calling on the government to explicitly prohibit government entities from purchasing or leasing Chinese-made vessels as a way to protect Canada's indigenous industries, safeguard national security, and ensure that economic policy complies with international standards of so-called business conduct.
In the United States, the Biden administration launched an investigation into China's shipbuilding practices in April in response to union and bipartisan pressure to crack down on China's pricing tactics on new ship construction. However, a spokesman for China's Commerce Ministry dismissed this, saying that blaming China for America's own industrial problems lacks factual basis and does not conform to economic common sense.
Market data show that Chinese shipyards still dominate the global new shipbuilding market. According to Veson senior analyst Rebecca Galanopoulos Jones, in the first half of this year, Chinese shipyards took on a total of 441 new ship orders, accounting for about 66 percent of the global total, in a variety of sectors including bulk carriers, tankers, container ships and gas carriers.
At the same time, European shipbuilders are also actively seeking to regain market share, and SEA Europe, the association representing the European Marine technology industry, has called on European policymakers to develop a comprehensive Marine industry strategy to address the huge price advantages and financial incentives of Asian shipbuilders.
"With price differentiations as high as 30 to 40 percent, combined with favorable financial incentives, European shipowners are increasingly turning to Asian shipbuilders," SEA Europe said in a press release.
CMISA wants to extend this policy to Chinese ships, which Cook has emphasized in public statements is aimed at addressing a growing "strategic threat." It pointed out that China's shipbuilding industry has adopted a strategy of military-civilian integration, through subsidies for commercial ship exports to enhance the country's military capabilities.
Not only is CMISA proposing a 100 per cent surcharge on all vessels imported from China, it is also calling on the government to explicitly prohibit government entities from purchasing or leasing Chinese-made vessels as a way to protect Canada's indigenous industries, safeguard national security, and ensure that economic policy complies with international standards of so-called business conduct.
In the United States, the Biden administration launched an investigation into China's shipbuilding practices in April in response to union and bipartisan pressure to crack down on China's pricing tactics on new ship construction. However, a spokesman for China's Commerce Ministry dismissed this, saying that blaming China for America's own industrial problems lacks factual basis and does not conform to economic common sense.
Market data show that Chinese shipyards still dominate the global new shipbuilding market. According to Veson senior analyst Rebecca Galanopoulos Jones, in the first half of this year, Chinese shipyards took on a total of 441 new ship orders, accounting for about 66 percent of the global total, in a variety of sectors including bulk carriers, tankers, container ships and gas carriers.
At the same time, European shipbuilders are also actively seeking to regain market share, and SEA Europe, the association representing the European Marine technology industry, has called on European policymakers to develop a comprehensive Marine industry strategy to address the huge price advantages and financial incentives of Asian shipbuilders.
"With price differentiations as high as 30 to 40 percent, combined with favorable financial incentives, European shipowners are increasingly turning to Asian shipbuilders," SEA Europe said in a press release.
