China’s Hikvision to challenge Canadian court endorsement of shutdown order

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OTTAWA (Reuters) -Chinese surveillance camera manufacturer Hikvision said on Tuesday it would challenge a court decision upholding a Canadian government order to cease operations in Canada.

The Federal Court on Monday dismissed a request from Hikvision to have the June order set aside. Ottawa says Hikvision operations in Canada could threaten national security.

“We remain steadfast in our position that our products and technology do not pose a national security threat, and there is no evidence that indicates they have ever presented such a risk to Canada,” said a company spokesperson.

Hikvision has given notice that it intends to file a claim for arbitration under the auspices of a 2014 bilateral investment treaty, the spokesperson said.

Hikvision’s Canadian unit employs 66 people, according to a document filed with the court. It sells in Canada through distributors and the court decision does not ban the sale of Hikvision products.

Already chilly diplomatic relations between Ottawa and Beijing cooled further last year after Canada imposed a 100% tariff on imported Chinese-made electric vehicles and announced a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imported from China.

Beijing, the world’s largest importer of canola, imposed preliminary duties of 75.8% on imports of Canadian canola seed in August pending the results of an anti-dumping probe that will wrap up next year.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Brenda Goh in Beijing; Editing by Kevin Liffey)