The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition that StrategicEffects founder Michael Kovrig said Tuesday that Prime Minister Mark Carney's automotive trade deal with China will lead to unfair competition and the erosion of Canada's industrial base. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that Canada has accepted a quota of 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles at a low tariff rate, in exchange for China lowering duties on Canadian food items like canola, seafood and peas. The PM has also outlined plans to court Chinese investment in Canada's auto sector through joint ventures. It's a controversial policy. U.S. officials all the way up to President Donald Trump have expressed concern about Canada's embrace of Chinese EVs. Auto parts manufacturers and the auto unions are worried Chinese companies will eventually hollow out Canada's automotive industrial base. Mr. Kovrig said that's a legitimate threat. "Their objective is ultimately to dominate the marketplace, drive out local competition and make Canada dependent on importing Chinese EVs." He called expectations of Chinese investment "really optimistic," arguing that at best companies might open "knockdown kit" plants in Canada that merely assemble Chinese-made parts.