Canada's prime minister had something to tell Donald Trump about Chinese electric vehicles.
He picked the G7 summit in France to deliver it – quietly, at the leaders' table, between bites at a working lunch.
And Trump had one reply that made the auto industry sit up and take notice.
Carney Trump Hot Mic at G7 Caught Canada China EV Pitch on Camera
The exchange happened in Évian-les-Bains, France, as world leaders settled in around the table before a working luncheon.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney leaned toward Trump and made his case.
"Less than 3 percent of our market, 49,000 cars," Carney told the president, making a capping gesture with his hand. "A cap, we capped, a hard line. I thought you'd actually like that."
Trump responded: "That's good. I like that."
What Carney was selling was the deal he cut in Beijing in January – a trip that put Washington on notice.
Canada had stood with the United States since 2024, maintaining a 100 percent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles that kept manufacturers like BYD locked out of North America.
Carney blew that up. Under his arrangement with China, the tariff dropped to 6.1 percent in exchange for a capped import quota of 49,000 Chinese EVs per year – a number his government has confirmed rises to 70,000 vehicles annually by 2031.
China, in return, agreed to cut tariffs on Canadian canola from 85 percent to roughly 15 percent.
Carney called it a balanced trade reset. Trump posted on social media that Canada was "systematically destroying itself" and the deal would go down as "one of the worst deals, of any kind, in history."
Sean Duffy Warning on BYD and Canada China Trade Deal Proved Accurate
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was blunt in January when Carney announced the Beijing deal.
Standing at a Ford manufacturing plant, Duffy told reporters Canada would regret opening its market to Chinese EVs – and that Washington would not allow those vehicles to cross into the United States.
His post on X went further: "I love my friends in Canada, but they will live to regret the day they let the Chinese Communist Party flood the market with their EVs."
Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro identified exactly what Beijing is doing.
"BYD is the latest predatory pricing kid on the block," Navarro warned. "Aim is to control global EV production – Tesla will be a footnote if this keeps up."
Ford CEO Jim Farley called Chinese EVs an "existential threat" to the North American auto industry. Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis – through the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association – issued a joint statement warning that Chinese EVs "undermine" domestic manufacturing and expose consumers to "cyber risks."
The surveillance angle is real. Modern Chinese electric vehicles are rolling intelligence platforms – microphones, cameras, 5G connectivity, and persistent links to manufacturer servers that capture geolocation, driving behavior, and smartphone contacts.
Canada's government circulated internal memos warning of exactly these risks even as the first 2,900 Chinese EVs began arriving on Canadian soil in May.
Chinese EVs Canada Backdoor Into North America Grows to 70000 Vehicles by 2031
The 49,000 annual import limit covers retail vehicle sales. It says nothing about the supply chain and manufacturing foothold that comes with it.
The deal requires Chinese automakers to establish joint ventures for vehicle or battery production in Canada within three years. BYD and Chery have already signaled plans to enter the Canadian market by late 2026.
Chinese manufacturing infrastructure is coming to North America. Carney just negotiated the terms.
The hot mic moment landed less than two weeks before a critical July 1 deadline for North American trade review talks – the same talks where Washington is pushing to tighten USMCA against exactly this kind of exposure.
What Carney pulled off at that lunch table was a thirty-second sales pitch for a decision he'd already made – one that cracked open the North American market to Beijing and handed China a manufacturing foothold on the continent.
The microphone caught all of it.
Sources:
- "Trump and Carney's Hot Mic Moment Reveals Chinese Car Limit," Newsweek, June 18, 2026.
- "Hot Mic Moment at G7 Catches Carney, Trump Talking About Chinese EVs," CBC News, June 16, 2026.
- "Carney, Trump Heard Talking Chinese EVs on Hot Mic at the G7 Summit," BNN Bloomberg, June 16, 2026.
- "Sean Duffy Predicts Canada Would 'Live to Regret' Letting China-Made EVs Enter Market," Finviz/Associated Press, January 19, 2026.
- "Trump's Trade Adviser Navarro Slams Reported Ford-BYD Battery Talks," EV, January 15, 2026.
- "Carney Says Canada Has No Plans to Pursue Free Trade Agreement with China as Trump Threatens Tariffs," Associated Press, January 25, 2026.
- "Chinese EVs Are Coming to Canada, and Some Dealers Can't Wait to Sell Them," CNBC, May 15, 2026.