The Ontario government is calling on Ottawa to join its American counterparts in banning Chinese-made software from new automobiles.
Premier Doug Ford announced on social media Monday that the provincial government plans to support any effort by Parliament to ban the use of software in auto production.
"By taking this step with the U.S., we can protect our critical infrastructure from foreign interference, build up our North American supply chains, and protect good jobs on both sides of the border," said Ford via X, formerly Twitter.
Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade Vic Fedeli told WindsorNewsToday.ca that the technology is more pervasive than many realize.
"Almost every vehicle in North America today has some sort of connectivity, and we're very worried about the opportunity for disruption, sabotage, so basically it's about security," said Fedeli. "It's about our national security, to be frank."
Fedeli was part of a Canadian delegation that was in Washington, D.C., meeting at the White House with members of the Biden administration.
The U.S. government confirmed on Monday that it was proposing a ban on Chinese-made software. Any action must be finalized by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
"As the Department of Commerce has found, vehicles’ increasing connectivity creates opportunities to collect and exploit sensitive information," read a fact sheet from the White House. "Certain hardware and software in connected vehicles enable the capture of information about geographic areas or critical infrastructure, and present opportunities for malicious actors to disrupt the operations of infrastructure or the vehicles themselves."
Canada has already followed the Americans' lead in imposing a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese-made vehicles, plus a 35 per cent duty on imported parts such as batteries.
"We wrote to the federal government asking them to mirror the U.S. in having the hundred per cent surcharge from the tariff of Chinese vehicles, and this is the next step," said Fedeli.
With significant investment coming to Windsor-Essex in electric vehicle production, Fedeli said it was of utmost importance that Canadian regulations guiding the industry are followed, a charge he said the Chinese have disregarded.
"They just bypass all of those and flood the market with artificially cheap vehicles which would have a very adverse effect on the 120,000 men and women who work in the auto sector, and yes, it would have a definitive effect on Windsor," said Fedeli.
Production on the all-electric 2024 Dodge Charger has begun at Stellantis' Windsor Assembly Plant, hailed by the automaker as the world's first EV "muscle car".
WindsorNewsToday.ca contacted Stellantis for comment and was referred to the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC), an alliance of the Detroit "Big Three" automakers Stellantis, Ford, and General Motors. A message to the AAPC was not immediately responded to.