Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he will release a proposed “auto pact” that he says could win U.S. support and “rebuild our auto sector” in Canada. He says the pact includes items like better aligning regulations and tax reductions.
On March 13, Poilievre set off for a weekend of meetings with officials in Detroit, Michigan, to discuss Canada-U.S. relations. He said upon his return, he’ll outline a proposed plan to safeguard the Canadian auto industry and jobs.
The Tory leader told reporters ahead of the trip that Canada needs to leverage its relationship with the United States based on goodwill and shared interests to make the proposed pact work.
“We have carefully studied what the American auto industry is looking to achieve, and we have calibrated a plan that will allow us to repatriate and massively increase our auto production on this side of the border, while at the same time making it attractive to the United States on the other side of the border,” he said at a March 13 press conference in Windsor.
To achieve that, Poilievre said the plan would have to align Canada’s regulations with those of the United States and eliminate the GST on all Canadian-made vehicles—in exchange for “tariff-free access for our autos.”
Poilievre did not provide further details of his new pact, but said he believes “we can get the Americans to accept this proposal” as it “will be advantageous” to both countries.
“[W]e believe this is not only the realistic plan to rebuild our auto sector, it is literally the only hope of keeping our auto sector in Canada,” he added.
The visit to Detroit is part of a week-long trip to the United States, where Poilievre said he will advocate for Canada’s auto and energy sectors.
The Tory leader will return to Windsor on March 15 to hold a press conference before heading to Houston, Texas, the following day to meet with energy executives and visit an energy facility. On March 17, Poilievre is scheduled to meet with state officials, energy, agriculture, and business leaders in Austin, Texas.
Asked during the March 13 press conference if he had shared specifics of his proposed auto pact to American businesses and legislators, Poilievre replied no, saying he “wants Canadians to hear it first.” He added he hasn’t shared the proposed plan with Prime Minister Mark Carney either.
Auto, Energy Sectors
While on the trip, Poilievre and Conservative MPs Kathy Borrelli, Harb Gill, and Chris Lewis met with U.S. lawmakers, as well as executives from General Motors and Ford, as well as energy sector leaders.
“Our energy is leverage to fight for tariff-free trade, to power our continent and make everyone better off,” Poilivre said in a social media post after meeting with Daniel Ujczo, associate general counsel at Cenovus Energy.
The Conservative lawmakers’ U.S. visit did not include meeting with Stellantis representatives due to a “scheduling issue,” Poilievre said in Windsor on March 13. The automaker drew public attention last October after announcing plans to move production from an Ontario plant to a facility in the United States.
‘No Replacing’
Poilievre criticized Carney’s recent move to significantly reduce tariffs on Chinese EVs. The move was done in exchange for China reducing tariffs on Canadian agricultural products.
“[The prime minister’s] idea that he’s going to replace the American market with China or other overseas markets for automobiles is an illusion. It is impossible. Almost all of our automobile exports go to the United States. There is no replacing that market,” Poilievre told reporters.
In a March 11 post on X, Poilievre reiterated that Canada “must continue to make our case” to the United States that free trade is a win for both Canadians and Americans.
During his trip in China, Carney said his government is seeking a “strategic partnership” with Beijing. Amid U.S. criticism of Canada’s recent China deals, Carney said his government isn’t pursuing a free-trade deal with Beijing.
“What we’ve done with China is to rectify some issues that developed in the last couple of years,” Carney said.
‘Leverage’
Asked by reporters in Windsor on March 13 about his approach to negotiating with the United States, Poilievre said he would “build up as much leverage as possible” to bargain for the removal of U.S. tariffs on Canadian automobiles, softwood lumber, aluminum, steel, and other products. His proposals include building up a stockpile of energy resources and minerals that he said could be supplied to allied nations under favourable trade terms.
“I’m proposing that we massively increase our energy production, something that is extremely important to the United States, especially now with what’s happening in the Strait of Hormuz, and that would be able to reduce gas prices on the American side of the border,” he said. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and serves as one of the world’s most important oil transit chokepoints, and has been disrupted by the ongoing Iran war.
Trade talks between Canada and the United States came to a halt last October by Washington after Ontario aired an anti-tariff advertising campaign on American networks.
On March 6, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington for the first time since the freezeout.
In a statement, LeBlanc’s office said they had a “constructive and substantive discussion” about the coming review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement and broader bilateral trade issues.
Matthew Horwood, Noé Chartier, Olivia Gomm, and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
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