By Paul Vieira
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is promising a billion-dollar-plus fund to help the country's auto sector deal with the fallout from the Trump administration's trade policy.
The fund is part of a new vision Carney said he has for the country's auto sector. He's also pledging to help steer work toward an "all-in-Canada" auto manufacturing network that would limit the number of times parts made in Canada and used in auto assembly cross the U.S.-Canada border.
President Trump is set to slap 25% tariffs on all Canadian nonenergy imports as soon as April 2, and he has repeatedly said the U.S. doesn't need automobiles assembled in Canada. Trump wants vehicle-assembly and auto-parts producers to relocate operations from Canada and Mexico to the U.S.
The auto fund, valued at 2 billion Canadian dollars, or the equivalent of $1.40 billion, is an indication of the type of fiscal support officials are ready to deploy to mitigate the damage from a protracted U.S.-Canada trade conflict. Prior to calling the election, the Liberal government unveiled C$6.5 billion in financing to help sectors exposed by Trump's tariffs.
Carney's proposal offers a hint of how lawmakers intend to rebuild an economy that relies less on the U.S. as a trading partner.
Carney, at an election-campaign stop in Windsor, Ontario - across the border from Detroit - said the fund would support workers at auto assembly and auto parts factories, as well as fortify the existing Canadian auto supply chain. He said Canada's auto industry, which employs about 125,000 people, is at risk because auto parts produced in Canada tend to cross the border up to six times before they are part of a finished product.
"What we're looking to do is take control of our destiny, build more here, build more of the supply chain here in Canada, create stronger ties, more jobs for the future," Carney said, adding he wants to limit the number of times auto components cross the U.S.-Canada border.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 26, 2025 12:04 ET (16:04 GMT)
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