As the U.S. and Canada attempt to negotiate a new trade deal to replace the more-than-two-decades-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t rolling over, saying on Wednesday that he won’t rush into a U.S. trade agreement that’s wrong for his country. The top negotiator for the U.S. on Tuesday opined that Canada has not been making enough concessions as the two countries continue to hammer out the details of the new trade deal, which Trudeau indicated could even fall through altogether.
Mexico finalized a tentative new U.S. trade agreement last month, before the U.S. began engaging in separate negotiations with Canada, and the Trump administrations says that if the U.S. and Canada should fail to agree to new terms before a September 30th deadline, the U.S. could replace NAFTA with a new, bilateral trade deal with only Mexico.
“We will keep working as long as it takes to get to the right deal for Canada,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters when asked about pressure from the U.S. to finish trade negotiations. He said that Canada would need to feel strongly in favor of “the path forward as we move forward – if we do – on a NAFTA 2.0.” He said that the tariffs the United States placed on steel and aluminum from Canada would need to be rescinded before any deal could be made.
What’s At Stake For General Motors
Apart from the number of automotive suppliers with operations in Canada (Magna, Linamar, Martinrea, etc.), General Motors might also be adversely affected by any failure between the U.S. and Canada to establish a new barrier-free trade deal because of its own handful of manufacturing plants in the country. Currently, General Motors operates Ontario’s CAMI Assembly, which produces the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain; Oshawa Car Assembly, which builds the Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Silverado, and GMC Sierra; and St. Catharines Propulsion, which produces engines like GM’s High Feature V6, Gen-V small-block V8s, and six-speed automatics for the Chevrolet Malibu and Equinox.
Should a new U.S. trade agreement with Canada fail to coalesce, General Motors would be forced to rethink its commitments to those plants, either eating the higher costs that would come with new trade barriers, or finding/creating the necessary capacity in the U.S. to produce all of those products domestically. The requisite investments to make that happen would cost billions and create disruptive output interruptions, although labor costs between the U.S. and Canada are approximately the same, so there would likely be no lingering penalty beyond the initial investment.
(Source: Reuters)
Comments
Trudeau’s problem is that without a treaty with the United States, the Trump Admin will slap a 25-percent tariff on everything being exported to the United States which will mean Canadian goods won’t be competitive and may cause Canadian companies to leave for the United States or Mexico to avoid tariffs and push the Canadian economy into a death spiral.
is trump going to declare all canadian exports a matter of national security? what a load of BS.
also, don’t we have a trade SURPLUS with canada?
Coming from a Canadian here.
Trudeau is the biggest idiot and Canadians now despise him. His “best” polling numbers put him under 30% support and falling fast. Yup, about HALF of what President Trump has and his is growing.
All Canada has to do under the failed leadership of this idiot is admit it enjoyed the benefits of special treatment that saw Canada reap all the rewards while Americans lost their jobs and industries. I am Canadian and even I understand that Trump is just protecting his people. And Trudeau needs to realize that grandstanding and trying act tough like a little dog barking wont change the facts…NAFTA is dead and Canada (health care, jobs, pensions, etc.) would not exist if it weren’t for 90% of all trade going to the U.S. American feeds us, so don’t bight the d— hand that feeds us! But typical Trudeau hubris and idiocy (remember when he wore the India wedding attire in India) is why his Liberal leftist party is in the dumps politically and the largest province, home to the capital, just kicked out the Liberal party and voted in a pro-Trump Conservative. His party doesn’t even qualify as a party in the biggest province in /Canada!
NAFTA is dead. So long Trudeau.
Speak for yourself. No, Canadians do not despise him. Trump is a complete re—d and we shouldn’t rush to make a deal. There’s already an existing bilateral trade deal if NAFTA died from previous agreements. To hell with the US, let’s just take advantage of the Canada-EU free trade deal and shut off the water and power to the US west coast to send a message.
Trudeau has little leverage. Canada needs a deal more than we do with them.
Mexico was smart to make the first deal as they got the better deal by being up front.
In the long run the longer old Justin holds out the more difficult it will be to make a better deal and his people will suffer for it. All the while America just keeps rolling along.
Trudeau’s really shown himself as a novice here and it may lead to him being replaced in the next election by a conservative who may see a better deal.
For their social programs to work they need other people’s money and right now that could be leaving the country fast.
Canada does have leverage, they just haven’t pulled out the big guns yet. For example, Canada could ignore US drug patents which could potentially do huge damage to the US drug industry (article on this idea: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/second-opinion-trade-dispute-canada-us-drug-patents-intellectual-property-1.4708630) and benefit both Canadian industry and taxpayers.
Trudeau may be replaced next election, but not because of NAFTA negotiations. There are plenty of reasons for Canadians to be unhappy with him, but generally Canadians agree the government has taken the right approach on NAFTA renegotiations.
I don’t think anybody is interested in having a free-trade deal fall through between Canada and the US, but it’s tough to say how the automotive market would react in Canada. GM produces a handful of vehicles in Canada that wouldn’t have tariffs applied to them, so I could see Canadian GM sales increase if their vehicle prices are maintained, while imported vehicle prices increase.
Here is the problem.
No matter what Canada does or tries the US can out last them economically.
Justin can explore all options but the reality is he will face economic collapse or abandonment by his supporters long before America has to flinch.
We see it at Walmart all the time. They can have a supplier who wants to raise prices and Walmart says no. They cut off the supplier who struggles on with the loss of half their sales and risks economic failure.
It is not much different here.
If Canada is willing to make a deal America will give and take like they did with Mexico. Both got a deal that was fair on both sides.
Justin right now is upset as he took a risk holding out and lost when Mexico agreed to a deal when few said they would. He is at a no win now and needs to get on with the talks and ask for help to save face. They will do that if he is reasonable.
Mexico didn’t sign a deal yet. It’s just an agreement and Canada plays a part in this. The entire thing could collapse. Or not, we’ll see.
Do you know what would happen if Canada cut off supplies to the US? You clearly have no clue because you’re completely ignorant. Canada has serious leverage here if they wanted to stoop to Trump’s level but in the end, it would screw everyone including stars like you. You’re lucky we have such an educated leader who doesn’t react based on raw emotions. Both countries would be screwed.
Canada has no leverage, just like China is crying now and the tariff hasn’t even hurt the American economy one bit. Simple economics and facts: China relies on Americans buying their products, not the other way around, period. Same with Canada, whose economy is 85%-90% . And without American companies giving jobs to Canadians in Canada (yes, even Tim Hortons is owned by an American-Brazilian firm!), the Canadian economy will collapse and all the social programs go bye bye.
Good to see you admit Liberal leftist social justice warrior fraud Trudeau will be “replaced” next election. Except he will actually be DEFEATED next election because Canadians like myself HATE HIM. He is a failure just like the corrupt Liberal party he helms.
Mark my words: NAFTA is DEAD!
You’re wrong about the percentages. It’s closer to 75%, not 85%
Remove oil and gas and it drops tremendously. The free trade agreement with Europe and Asia will kick in next year and we can finally trade with the civilized and free world. Can’t come soon enough.
Gobacktoyourhole
Are you kidding. China controls the US. You can’t even build a toaster without Chinese components. Not a single car, nothing in retail would be available.
All the Chinese have to do is stop shipping and the US collapses like the Soviet Union and that includes your military which uses Chinese electronics across the board.
Yes go back to your hole and die in ignorance.
You are right Tony, ignoring drug patents is the nuclear option for Canada and would be far more lucrative than auto exports.
Canada is the #1 trading partner for 35 US states. Without Canada there is no trade agreement including with Mexico. Canada are holding all the cards and they are playing them perfectly. Go Canada Go!
scott3,
There’s more than enough money in the US for social programs but unfortunately it all goes for tax cuts for the super rich and wasteful/useless military spending.
Trump can’t cancel NAFTA, it has to be done by congress. And by the time it gets there Trump will be gone or in jail wearing an orange jumpsuit.
If you can’t make a deal with Canada, how the hell will you make one with China? Having gone bankrupt 6 times, it just proves that the bully Trump BS doesn’t work.
Well this will be death to the Impala and XTS. I think Mexico already makes Equinox and pickups, so they’re probably more then happy to pick up the slack. The 9-speed tranny is replacing the 6. The engines are probably the biggest issue. Not sure if V8 production is available at other plants.
Trudeau needs to get in reality and get this trade issue solved for BOTH Countries. Nobody wins in a trade war.
LOL. Yeah, because Trudeau is the problem here. Please…
You Americans have no idea what a horrible piece of excrement that SOB is. He going to put thousands of auto jobs out. just to save a few dairy farmers in Queerbeck for their votes. We pay almost $ 5 for 4 liters of milk that’s about 1 cup more than a US Gallon !
You sound pretty que$r yourself Barry. $4.27 C$ for 4 litres of milk is pretty well the same price as the US adjusted for a 0.76 cent dollar.
Educate yourself before you open your pie hole.