Mark Warner Was Mentioned on The Food Professor Podcast About Possible U.S. Reactions If Canada Lowered Its Tariffs on Chinese EVs to Lower Chinese Tariffs on Canola

Mark Warner was mentioned on The Food Professor Podcast about the demands by Western Premiers for Canada to lower its 100% tariff on imported electric vehicles from China to lift restrictions on Chinese canola imports from Canada, and possible American reactions. (October 16, 2025) Mark suggested that Trump cares about EVs or that Biden tariff and given the on again / off again Trump “bromance” with Elon Musk, its worth noting that lifting the tariff would help Tesla. Mark said Canada should have followed the Europeans and used WTO-consistent processes to impose the tariffs, but noted that was difficult because there is really no extant domestic EV industry in Canada (unlike in Europe). Of course, President Trump is likely to use it as leverage if we pull back, but they are already on Defcon 1 on autos, it might not matter much. Instead, his recommended approach would be to lift the Section 53 tariffs, go back to the Special Import Measures Act for tariffs, harmonize with the US on connected vehicles for privacy and national security concerns and commit to limiting Chinese parts from the (USMCA) automobile supply chain.

Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler, and various grant and loan agreements to leading automotive and automotive parts companies, including to electric car battery manufacturer, Electrovaya and and a Better Place demonstration centre and electric vehicle charging station network. Mr. Warner also advised the Auto Parts Manufacturing Association on NAFTA renegotiation issues.

As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and the Ministry of Research & Innovation and advised on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Huawei. As MEDT Legal Director, he also led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations and advised on trade disputes including the Japanese challenge to the Ontario Green Energy Act. Mark has been an adviser to the Governments of Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam on competition and trade policy and at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State lectured in five cities in Japan on international antitrust law and policy. As Assistant Director of the University of Baltimore’s Centre for International and Comparative Law, Mark hired a Chinese scholar to begin a research program on reforming anti-monopoly law in China, one of the first such efforts at the time.

[From 10:47 to 17:19]