Prime Minister Mark Carney met with the CEO of the automotive sector on Wednesday morning to discuss tariffs and ways to protect Canadian supply chains of the commercial war with the United States.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s office (PMO) said that the CEO of Ford Canada, Stellantis Canada and GM Canada met with Carney, along with Brian Kingston of the Association of Manufacturers of Canadian vehicles.
A brief reading of the PMO said the group discussed “the need to build a supply chain made in Canada, as well as diversify our business partners.”
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has repeatedly said that the United States does not need Canadian cars and that he wants to see automotive companies transfer all production to the United States.
The United States has imposed 25 percent tariffs on vehicles made in Canada, with a size for components built in the US. UU. Through the highly integrated vehicle supply chain.
“I think it is good and useful for the prime minister to meet with the automobile manufacturers based in Detroit. I think we also hope that we will have the opportunity to meet with the prime minister too,” said David Adams, president and CEO of Canada’s global car manufacturers, which represents 26 brands of European and Asian cars, including Toyota and Honda.
Adams said that a key issue for car manufacturers is the mandate of zero government emission vehicles, which will begin next year and was the objective of recent conservative attacks in the House of Commons.
Canada’s car manufacturers have asked the government to repeal the mandate.
Kingston told CBC News that he intended to raise the problem with the prime minister.
“The EV mandate is not sustainable. The objectives that have been established cannot be met,” Kingston said on his way to the meeting.
After the meeting, Kingston issued a statement that reiterated the mandate should be “urgently eliminated.”
“The oldest car manufacturers in Canada appreciated the sincere discussion with the prime minister and hope to collaborate to protect and grow this critical industry,” Kingston said.
The conservative parliamentarian and the critic of the Raquel Dancho industry echoed the call of the industry for a repeal of the mandate.
“I think it is very irresponsible and unfortunately quite in line with the lack of serious action that is needed at this time, more than ever, of the liberals,” Dancho told CBC News.
“It is my hope and expectation that they see the light.”
EV fall sales after refunds are exhausted
Electric vehicles remain more expensive than their equivalents with gasoline, and sales fell in winter after federal reimbursements of $ 5,000 were left without funds.
Between January and March, zero emission vehicles represented only 8.11 percent of all sales of new vehicles in Canada, a 16.5 percent drop recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024, as shown in the data of Statistics Canada.
The monthly participation of the new sales of vehicles that go to the EVs never fell below 10.65 percent in 2024 and reached its maximum point at 18.29 percent in December.
In April, the most recent data from available Statistics available, EV sales fell to 7.53 percent of all sales of new vehicles in Canada.
The Minister of Environment, Julie Dabrusin, confirmed last month that the government was working to recover an EV reimbursement of some kind, but I was not yet sure if it would restore the previous program or it would be something new.
The Government EV Sales mandate establishes that at least 20 percent of the new light service vehicles offered for sale in 2026 must be zero emissions. This part is supposed to increase every year until it reaches 100 percent in 2035.
“There is no way that manufacturers can meet their goals by 2026,” Adams said.
He said that the objectives are “expensive and problematic”, and their elimination would allow the Canadian automotive industry to focus better on the commercial relationship with the United States.
Adams believes that Carney could sympathize with that argument.
“My sense of the prime minister is that he is a quite pragmatic person,” he said.
Canada and the United States are back at the negotiating table after Trump called on commercial conversations about Canada’s plan to impose a digital services tax on the main technical companies, a plan that the Carney government canceled on Sunday night.
Carney has said that he wants a new trade in Canada-United States before July 21 and if that deadline is not fulfilled, Canadian commercial countermeasures will increase.
