Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is key to maintaining the U.S. auto industry’s competitiveness following his meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.
You Need USMCA, Says Mark Carney
“For America to be fully competitive, to be globally competitive in autos, you need USMCA. Not everyone shares that view at this time, and so that’s a real discussion,” Carney said, according to Bloomberg on Wednesday.
Canada Relationship Complicated, Says Trump
Trump had called U.S.-Canada relations “complicated” during Carney’s visit to Washington, DC. Trump said that “there’s natural conflict” between the U.S. and Canada, adding that the two countries wanted to do the same business.
The administration had earlier reached an agreement with Japan, slashing tariffs on Japanese imports to 15%, with the East Asian country agreeing to invest $550 billion in American projects handpicked by the U.S. government.
US Production Boost
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) had earlier said that companies carrying out final assembly in the U.S. could face tariff relief as the Trump administration could extend existing tariff offsets to reward automakers.
Earlier this year, General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) announced that it would halt production of electric commercial vans at the company’s manufacturing unit in Ontario due to poor demand. GM clarified the move wasn’t due to tariffs.
Meanwhile, Stellantis NV (NYSE:STLA) also announced this year that the company moved production activities into the U.S. to avoid tariffs. The move also affected the Chrysler production in the country.
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