Amid looming auto tariffs, some hope emerges for an Ontario exemption
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick called Ontario Premier Doug Ford to talk about the coming auto tariffs, suggesting they could be lowered on some Canadian vehicles using American parts. It comes after President Donald Trump decreed vehicles imported into the U.S. will be slapped with 25 per cent tariffs on April 3.
Alex Panetta here, CBC’s Washington correspondent.
There was an unusual murmur on the battlefield today, amid the most serious Canada-U.S. trade war in generations: the sound of optimism.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters in Toronto that he was hoping for an exemption for cars with a significant percentage of U.S.-made parts, based on his conversations with Trump’s team.
One official privy to recent Canada-U.S. discussions said the sides have been talking for days about a potential reprieve — which is why, he said, Canadian officials were so crestfallen Wednesday when they heard Trump make his announcement in the Oval Office.
Then they saw the fine print of the executive order: It said cars built under rules of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade pact could have their U.S. content exempted from tariffs.
This means, for example, that a car assembled in Canada could, in theory, see its 25 per cent tariff reduced to 12.5 per cent, if half the car’s parts are American.
That would be a painful, but not necessarily fatal blow to auto production in Canada, especially with a weak loonie.
