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Describing the Liberal government’s approach to trade talks with the U.S. as essentially “waving a white flag,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced a new auto plan focused on securing tariff-free access to the U.S. market.
In Windsor on Sunday, Poilievre said Prime Minister Mark Carney has not lived up to his election promise of protecting jobs in the automobile sector, while stating that the Liberal government’s approach to trade talks with the U.S. puts the country at a disadvantage.
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“He has since waved the white flag,” the Conservative leader said. “He seems to have accepted that American tariffs are permanent. He also seems to think that he can carry out a permanent rupture with the United States market in favour of other markets.”
Citing recent auto job losses since U.S. President Donald Trump announced his tariff policy, Poilievre said the Canadian auto sector is still largely dependent on the U.S.
“The Americans buy 90% of the automobiles Canada makes. And we buy almost the rest, meaning there are almost no overseas exports of Canadian automobiles today, and that cannot be changed on a dime,” Poilievre said.
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Increasing production ratio for Canada and U.S.
He said his party’s tariff-free auto pact with the U.S. would restore manufacturing in both Canada and the U.S. and establish a “one-for-one production-to-sales ratio,” he said.
He explained that under the current CUSMA deal, Canada and the U.S. only make 0.6 vehicles for every vehicle they buy. He said the Conservative plan would implement a rule where, for each car produced in Canada, the same manufacturer would be able to sell a U.S.- or Mexico-made car in Canada duty-free.
The plan aims to increase Canadian auto production to two million vehicles over the next decade, up from 1.2 million last year.
Poilievre said Trump would agree with his plan as it would also increase production in the U.S.
Plan would remove GST from Canadian-made vehicles
In addition to securing tariff-free access to the U.S. market, he also announced that his plan would remove the GST from Canadian-made vehicles and end the Liberal government’s electric vehicle subsidies.
In February, the federal government announced it was reintroducing a rebate program for electric vehicles.
Poilievre’s plan would also ban vehicles that use Chinese- or Russian-connected software.
— with files from The Canadian Press