According to foreign media reports, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney promised to set up a $2 billion “strategic response fund” to support Canada’s automobile manufacturing industry and strengthen the supply chain system threatened by U.S. tariffs.
Mark Carney made this commitment less than two weeks after taking office as Prime Minister of Canada, emphasizing that the Canadian government will cooperate with the automotive industry to strive to build a “all Canada” automotive parts network, increase the proportion of local automotive parts production, and reduce the number of automotive parts that need to cross the Canadian-US border during the production process. However, he did not elaborate on the specific implementation details.
“On average, automotive parts need to go through six cross-border transportation before final assembly. This constitutes a huge vulnerability in the context of the trade war.” He said the Canadian government will prioritize local vehicles in procurement to promote the development of Canada’s domestic automobile industry and create more union jobs.
On March 26, US President Trump announced that he plans to impose tariffs on imported cars starting from April 3 local time in the United States, which poses a major threat to the highly integrated North American automobile supply chain, and most of the cars produced in Canada are exported to the US market. In response, Mark Carney said Canada will soon respond to the new tariffs on imported cars announced by Trump and may take countermeasures against the United States.
Mark Carney called Trump’s move a “direct attack” and told reporters that he would hold a senior cabinet meeting on March 27 to decide on the response strategy. “We will defend our workers, our businesses, our nation, and we will defend together,” he said in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
Canada has developed a counter-tariff plan totaling CAD$155 billion and said it will be implemented in phases based on Trump’s actions. When asked when Canada will react, Mark Carney said: “There will be action soon. We have multiple options. We can implement counter-tariff tariffs.” But he did not disclose specific details.
Mark Carney has previously considered non-tariff measures, such as the export tax on goods exported to the United States. Mark Carney said he would have a conversation with Trump soon. There hasn’t been a conversation with Trump since Mark Carney was sworn in as Canadian Prime Minister earlier this month.
Mark Carney said he had spoken with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Canada. Earlier, Doug Ford told reporters: “We will make sure to cause as much pain to the American people as possible without causing pain to the Canadian people.” Doug Ford said he will soon consult with nine other Canadian provinces on a coordinated response.
Doug Ford said: “We face two choices: either surrender the whole country and let the United States crush us fifteen times and get what we want; or bear some pain and fight back. I choose the latter, and I advocate resistance.” As Canada’s most populous province, Ontario is the core base of Canada’s automobile industry.
In addition, Mark Carney promises to “maximize” the development of Canada’s steel, aluminum and key mineral industries. He proposed that the Canadian government will invest in the construction of transmission and transportation networks, connect mining sites to railways and highways, and implement a “one project, one review” system to speed up the environmental assessment process. At the same time, Trump’s tariff policy has also prompted Canada to accelerate its search for new export markets.