Ontario’s premier accused the nation of being a ‘backdoor’ for Chinese language automakers to return into the Canadian and U.S. market
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is looking on Mexico to match Canadian and U.S. tariffs positioned on China and suggesting, if it doesn’t, the 2 nations ought to lower it out of its trilateral commerce settlement.
Ford, on Tuesday, accused Mexico of being a “backdoor for Chinese cars, auto parts and other products into Canadian and American markets.”
“If Mexico won’t fight transshipment by, at the very least, matching Canadian and American tariffs on Chinese imports, they shouldn’t have a seat at the table or enjoy access to the largest economy in the world,” the premier mentioned.
“Instead, we must prioritize the closest economic partnership on earth by directly negotiating a bilateral U.S.-Canada free trade agreement that puts U.S. and Canadian workers first.”
The Canada-United States-Mexico Settlement (CUSMA), which changed the North America Free-Commerce Settlement (NAFTA), is ready to be reviewed in 2026.
President-elect Donald Trump has already mentioned he’ll search new protections for the American auto business, together with clauses to cease Chinese language auto corporations from constructing crops in Mexico, the place their merchandise are then despatched throughout the border underneath CUSMA’s duty-free import guidelines.
It’s a pitch being echoed by Ford, who instructed reporters at a information convention in Barrie, Ont., that Mexico is importing low-cost merchandise, “slapping a made-in-Mexico sticker on, and shipping it up.”
“It’s ridiculous, and they’re undercutting the market,” he mentioned.
“What I’m proposing to the federal government, we do a bilateral trade deal with the U.S., and if Mexico wants a bilateral trade deal with Canada, God bless them,” Ford said. “But I’m not going to be drawn down with these cheap imports, taking men and women’s jobs from hard-working Ontarians.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s workplace used related language when requested for a touch upon the premier’s assertion, saying, “Canada will not be a backdoor to other markets, especially to our most important friend and ally, the United States.”
“Canada firmly believes that action is necessary to level the playing field for Canadian workers in the face of China’s intentional, state-directed policy of overcapacity. That is why we have put strong tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, steel, and aluminum,” Freeland’s spokesperson Katherine Cuplinskas mentioned in an announcement to The Trillium.
Freeland’s workplace didn’t say whether or not Canada would contemplate a bilateral commerce settlement with the U.S. quite than sustaining a North American settlement with all three nations.
Over the summer season, Canada introduced a 100 per cent surtax on all Chinese language-made electrical automobiles and a 25 per cent tariff on metal and aluminum merchandise. The tariffs on Chinese language EVs went into impact Oct. 1, with the metal and aluminum tariffs kicking in Oct. 22. The federal authorities can be conducting consultations on whether or not to develop these tariffs, just like the U.S., which additionally instituted tariffs on made-in-China batteries, semiconductors, photo voltaic cells and is proposing a ban on car software program and {hardware}.
Freeland famous final week that these tariffs present Canada a “firm foundation” heading into negotiations with the brand new Trump administration.
Trump has beforehand mentioned he would impose tariffs of at the least 200 per cent on all automobiles imported from Mexico and impose larger tariffs on Chinese language corporations working within the nation.
