<h1>Canada's strategic autonomy in China policy and ongoing tariffs on Chinese EVs, steel, aluminum; China retaliates</h1> State actors are urging a shift toward 'strategic autonomy' in foreign policy, i.e., a legal-political prescription that Canada decouple certain China-related decisions from alignment with the United States, with the operative effect of seeking to lessen bilateral policy coordination with the US and thereby reduce political costs from US-China friction. Separately, recent tariff measures have altered trade obligations: Canada imposed a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles and 25% on steel and aluminum, and China enacted retaliatory tariffs on Canadian agricultural and seafood exports, with the operative effect that trade barriers remain in place even as diplomatic engagement seeks incremental trade progress rather than immediate tariff elimination.