This past fall, we looked to buy a new car manufactured by KIA. We were very pleased with our current vehicle, but it was now eight years old. We went to a dealer in Thunder Bay and another in Calgary, only to be told that the vehicle was no longer available in Canada.
KIA had moved manufacturing from the U.S. back to Korea for the Canadian market because the tariffs applied to the vehicle manufactured in the U.S. were higher than those from Korea. Canada had placed reciprocal tariffs matching tariffs by the U.S. on vehicles manufactured in Canada and shipped to the U.S.
Other manufacturers, Mazda, Tesla, and Toyota, had also moved manufacturing of vehicles for the Canadian market overseas.
We learned that U.S. President Donald Trump is not happy that auto sales into Canada from the U.S. have dropped, and he has now imposed a 50 per cent tariff on vehicles and $20 billion in other manufactured products from Canada in violation of the CUSMA agreement. We now know that no agreement is ever finalized when dealing with the Trump government. A signed piece of paper is worthless in the eyes of Donald Trump.
He is also upset that retailers have chosen not to stock U.S. wines and spirits. He claims that provincial retailers should not have a right to choose whose products they will sell
We are learning that the U.S. is applying pressure to Canadians to force concessions on trade prior to beginning trade negotiations. The first was refusing to allow the Gordie Howe bridge to open until the agreement to operate the bridge was changed. Canada gave in. Nothing changed, and the U.S. trade representatives asked for even more concessions from Canadians.
Plywood and particle board are now about to be slapped with a 50 per cent tariff tax. That will hurt the district.
Donald Trump is gambling that Canada does not have a backbone and will consent to all his demands in negotiations.
He is wrong.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Tuesday at the premier’s conference at Prince Edward Island said: “I’m tired of the bully trying to take our lunch money all the time. We always seem to be on our back heels. We need to be on the offence, not constantly on the defence with President Trump.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith warned that Canada had offered concessions before to Trump with no result.
The leaders of Canada’s provinces and territories are now banded together behind the Prime Minister in protecting Canada.
Brian Clow, a former deputy chief of staff in former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office, said the difference now in dealing with Trump is that there seems to be no suggestion that the Americans will offer concessions in return for what they are demanding from Canada. “They continue to pressure us to make a series of painful concessions, and they don’t seem to be willing to let up at all”, Clow said.
As Andrew Coyne stated in his Globe and Mail column on Tuesday, “There is no appeasing Donald Trump or deterring him.”
