The head of government of Ontario, Canada’s largest province, Doug Ford, blamed Mexico to be “the most back doorChinese products and proposed excluding the country from the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as USMCA.
Ford noted at the press conference that if Mexico “does not comply with Canadian and U.S. tariffs” on Chinese imports, Don’t “sit at the table” (T-MEC) or gain access to the world’s largest economy.”
The Conservative politician added that Canada should prioritize the United States and negotiate a “bilateral free trade agreement” between the two countries.
“If Mexico wants to have a bilateral trade agreement with Canada, God bless them.
“But I won’t let them drown me with these cheap imports. it takes jobs away from men and women in Ontario,” he added.
Ontario is Canada’s industrial powerhouse and is home to the country’s entire automotive sector, which employs approximately 125,000 people directly in the province.
In 2023, automobile manufacturing contributed C$14 billion (US$10 billion) to Ontario’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Canada to impose 100% tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles
In August, the Canadian government announced it would impose a 100 percent tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles, as well as another 25 percent tariff on the Asian giant’s steel and aluminum, matching the tariffs announced by the United States.
The US, Canada and Mexico are expected to renegotiate T-MEC in 2026.
US President-elect Donald Trump expressed disagreement with Chinese manufacturers producing cars in Mexico for export and proposed tariffs of up to 200%.
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Trump is not threatening to withdraw from USMCA and cannot raise tariffs unilaterally: Kenneth Smith
Following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, Kenneth Smith Ramos, former head of the T-MEC technical negotiations department of the Ministry of Economy, noted that the president-elect, despite his speech about Mexico, “is not threatening to withdraw from the treaty, unlike in his first term , when he used threats and tariffs as tools of pressure.
In an interview for “Aristegi Live” Smith Ramos stressed that, unlike in his first administration, when Trump threatened to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), he now seems reluctant to withdraw from the agreement, which he considers “his son.”
Trump has repeatedly said that he replaced what he considered the worst negotiated treaty with a better treaty, the USMCA.
Source: Aristegui Noticias
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
