The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) came into force in 2020, after it was signed during the first term of Republican President Donald Trump.
Since then, Mexico “has allowed itself to become a back door” for Chinese automotive products, among others, accused Doug Ford during a press conference Tuesday morning.
“Mexico imports low-cost, low-quality products from China, which hurts our hardworking people not only here, but also in the United States. They slap a ‘Made in Mexico’ sticker on it and ship it, taking jobs away from our hardworking people. This is unacceptable,” said the Prime Minister.
By doing so, the United States’ southern neighbor is “jeopardizing the livelihoods of Canadian and American workers, while weakening our communities and causing considerable harm to our common economic success,” he added. .
Protectionism
Donald Trump was re-elected on November 5, after making it clear during his campaign that he wanted to impose protectionist economic measures.
He called the term “tariff” the “nicest word in the dictionary,” promising that a protectionist trade strategy would help boost U.S. manufacturing.
Former Republican President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, October 29, 2024. (Matt Rourke/Archives Associated Press)
He did not mention an exemption for imports of Canadian goods, such as oil, wood, steel and aluminum, among others.
However, this would not be the first attempt by Mr. Trump to subject Canada to such measures.
The Trump administration has already imposed a 25% tariff on steel imports, and 10% on aluminum, before granting an exemption to Canada and Mexico.
Canada supplies more than a sixth of all the steel used by the United States and more than 40% of its aluminum.
Doug Ford “optimistic”
Following Mr. Trump’s re-election last week, the Ontario premier said he was “optimistic” about the future of economic exchanges between the province and the United States.
He maintained that he was not worried about possible tariffs imposed by the American president. “They tried for a few months, and we know what happened,” noted Doug Ford.
Premier Ford now says that as Ontario is “the economic engine of Canada,” he is well-positioned to ask Ottawa to strengthen its economic relations with its partner south of the border and include it in renegotiations of CUSMA.
“Ontario would be the third largest trade partner of the United States in the world if we were a country – which I would never recommend,” said the Progressive Conservative Prime Minister at a press conference on Tuesday.
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