May 17 (Reuters) - Canada is looking at whether it needs

to raise tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles after the

White House announced major new levies on them, Trade Minister

Mary Ng told Bloomberg News on Friday.

"We are looking at this very carefully and we have an open

dialogue with our American partners," Bloomberg quoted Ng as

saying in a phone interview from Peru, where she is attending

meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Canada's trade ministry and Ng's office did not immediately

respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report.

Canada's decision follows U.S. President Joe Biden's steep

tariff increases on Chinese imports, including electric-vehicle

(EV) batteries, computer chips and medical products earlier this

week. China had immediately vowed retaliation.

Biden will increase tariffs this year under Section 301 of

the Trade Act of 1974 from 25% to 100% on EVs, bringing total

duties to 102.5%.

Tesla started listing China-made Model 3 and Model

Y models for sale in Canada on its website last year.