Canada’s provincial and territorial leaders want Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to strike a separate trade deal with the United States, excluding Mexico, says Premier Doug Ford.
Ford, chair of the Council of Federation of Premiers, said “There’s a clear consensus that everyone agrees that we need a bilateral trade deal with the U.S. and a separate bilateral trade deal with Mexico.”
With the specter of a more protectionist American administration under President-elect Donald Trump, the Ontario premier said Wednesday it is key that Canada insulates itself from any trade tariffs by forging closer ties to the U.S.
“The U.S. is our number one trading partner, our closest ally, our closest friend,” Ford told reporters at Queen’s Park after a conference call with the other premiers.
“What our problem is — all the premiers — we know Mexico is bringing in cheap Chinese parts, slapping ‘made in Mexico’ stickers on, shipping (them) up through the U.S. and Canada, causing American jobs to be lost and Canadian jobs,” he said.
The transshipment of artificially inexpensive Chinese electric vehicle parts, subsidized by Beijing, through Mexico is a sore point in Ottawa and Washington.
An expert with Canada’s Chamber of Commerce cautioned that tossing Mexico out of the deal before talks even begin would be rash.
“We very much think that we should be working with all three countries and that we’re better together. CUSMA has been good for Canadians. It’s been good for Canadian businesses,” said Catherine Fortin LeFaivre, the chamber’s vice president of strategic policy and global partnerships.
Canada and Mexico’s trading relationship has been growing since the passage of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). In 2023, Canada shipped $8.3 billion worth of goods to Mexico, while Mexico shipped more than $46 billion in goods to Canada.
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Source: Toronto Star
