Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney’s China visit. (Vincent Thian – Pool/Getty Images)
By NTDTV Staff
As Canada moves to sharply reduce tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), a growing number of researchers, security experts, and politicians are warning that the decision could expose the country to espionage and data-security risks linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been among the most vocal critics. When asked to provide evidence for his security concerns, Ford pointed to the precautions taken by Ottawa itself during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent visit to China.
“When the prime minister and his team are over there, they use burner phones. You’re making a deal with a country with burner phones?” Ford said at a Jan. 19 press conference.
“The prime minister did mention when he got elected that the number one country for national security threat is China. We know when you hook up your phone, they are going to be listening, simple as that. Anyone who doesn’t believe that is very, very naive,” he added.
Ford’s comments reflect a broader international debate over the security implications of connected vehicles produced by Chinese manufacturers. Several governments have restricted or banned Chinese-made EVs from sensitive locations, citing concerns that vehicle sensors, microphones, cameras, and software systems could be used for surveillance.
In Israel, local media reported last year that the military recalled Chinese-made vehicles previously issued to senior officers. In the United States, the Biden administration launched a probe in February 2024 into Chinese EVs, warning they could collect personal data and pose national security threats.
“These cars are connected to our phones, to navigation systems, to critical infrastructure, and to the companies that made them,” then-U.S. President Joe Biden said in 2024.
A 2024 report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that the “risk from cars connected to China is undeniable,” warning that conversations inside vehicles could be recorded and transmitted elsewhere and that charging systems could potentially provide access to power grids. “Using connected cars for spying is just an extension of mass surveillance of communications,” the report said.
Despite those warnings, Carney announced during his visit to Beijing that Ottawa will reduce tariffs on up to 49,000 Chinese EVs annually from 100 percent to 6.1 percent. In exchange, China agreed to lower tariffs on Canadian canola, agricultural products, and seafood.
“It is expected that within three years, this agreement will drive considerable new Chinese joint-venture investment in Canada with trusted partners,” the Prime Minister’s Office said, adding that the deal would help build Canada’s EV supply chain and protect jobs.
Security analysts in Europe and Asia have expressed skepticism. The European Council on Foreign Relations warned in January 2024 that Chinese-made EVs may pose security risks that are, in some respects, greater than those associated with China’s 5G networks. Janka Oertel, a policy fellow at the council, said vehicles collect data for artificial intelligence training and automated driving, and control over software updates and data flows could “encroach on matters of national security.”
Shiow-Wen Wang, an assistant research fellow at Taiwan’s Institute of National Defense and Security Research, previously noted that EVs are equipped with extensive sensors capable of gathering intelligence on the environments they travel through.
A 2024 report from the Swedish National China Centre warned that Chinese EVs may collect user profiles, geographic data, driving behaviour, voice commands, and smartphone data, which could be shared with manufacturers, affiliates, insurers, or government agencies. “The constant collection of data which is sent back to China might allow the Chinese government to use EVs abroad for intelligence gathering,” the report said.
Warnings about Chinese cyber activity extend beyond vehicles. In 2024, Canada’s cyber security agency and its counterparts in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand issued a joint advisory stating that Chinese state-sponsored actors were seeking to maintain persistent access to critical infrastructure systems.
Meanwhile, U.S.-based China analyst Gordon Chang has warned that allowing Chinese EV manufacturing plants in Canada could provide opportunities for the CCP to “base agents, operatives, and soldiers.”
Canada’s public inquiry into foreign interference concluded last year that China is the most active foreign power seeking to influence Canadian affairs.