Tag: tariffs

This article was written by Eric Atkins and was published in the Globe & Mail on September 6, 2025.

Auto industry welcomes the move but some want to see entire program scrapped

Automakers are applauding the federal government’s move to drop the minimum sales requirement for electric vehicles in 2026, and some say the entire program should be scrapped amid industry upheaval spurred by U.S. tariffs.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday the government will no longer require 20 per cent of cars sold next year to be powered by battery, fuel cell, or plug-in hybrid system. He added that Ottawa will review the rest of the sales mandates, which raise the EV minimums to 60 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035.

Mr. Carney made the announcement after months of lobbying from the auto industry, which has seen U.S. tariffs upend supply chains built on free trade. EV sales in June fell by 35 per cent from a year earlier, to comprise 8 per cent of new vehicles sold, Statistics Canada says.

Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, which represents Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis NV, called for the regulation to be completely repealed.

“If this is an interim step to get into that, then that’s positive, but there is simply no need for this regulation,” he said in an interview. “It is putting huge costs on the automotive industry right now, at the worst possible time where they’re incurring costs from tariffs.”

Under the policy first announced in 2022, automakers that miss the targets must purchase credits from rivals or limit the sale of internal combustion vehicles.

David Adams, head of Global Automakers of Canada, which represents Toyota, Honda and several overseas brands, welcomed the elimination of the 2026 requirements. But he is not optimistic the entire program will be eliminated.

“I don’t think any of our members would necessarily be too upset if the mandate were eliminated altogether, but I don’t know how realistic that is given how large of a piece of the previous government’s platform that was,” Mr. Adams said by phone.

Adam Thorn, director of the transportation program at the Pembina Institute, a clean-energy think tank, said in a statement that the policy change favours carmakers over Canadians. The EV mandate “ensures that automakers supply a full range of electric vehicles, giving Canadians fair access to a diversity of affordable options – not just expensive luxury models,” he said.

Alternatives to the pause include adjusting the targets, providing EV and charging station incentives and cutting tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, he added.

Travis Allan is president of the Canadian Charging Infrastructure Council, which represents companies that operate public charging stations. In an interview, he said the group understands carmakers are being affected by the upheaval in global trade. Still, he said Canada should stick with an “ambitious” EV mandate that clearly signals where the government and the market are headed.

“It’s critical for justifying investment in charging,” Mr. Allan said.

Mr. Carney’s announcement is part of a series of measures aimed at alleviating the economic fallout of the protectionist trade policy embarked upon by U.S. President Donald Trump. These include new lending for businesses and longer employment insurance eligibility.

Mr. Trump has imposed 25-per-cent tariffs on imported automobiles, excluding U.S. content on those made in Canada and Mexico. He has also slapped tariffs on steel, aluminum and other goods, in defiance of the free-trade agreement he signed with Canada and Mexico in his first term.

“The largest economy, the United States, is fundamentally reshaping all of its trading relationships,” Mr. Carney said. “What’s going on is not a transition – it’s a rupture.”

Canadian employers have responded to diminished exports by laying off workers. The country’s unemployment rate in August rose to 7.1 per cent. Automakers have slashed Canadian production, put plant renovations on hold and cut jobs as exports to the U.S. fall and tariff costs rise.

“They’ve got enough on their plate right now,” Mr. Carney said of the automakers at a press conference at an aerospace factory in Mississauga on Friday.

Dave Jamieson, chief executive officer of Honda Canada, said the country’s second-biggest carmaker welcomes the measures.

“We look forward to consulting with the government to explore broader possibilities that better reflect current customer demand and the realities of our manufacturing supply chains, while developing a new broad policy framework that focuses on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, including policies that promote the sale of madein-Canada hybrid vehicles,” Mr. Jamieson said in a statement.

Mr. Carney said he would “explore options” to bring more affordable EVs to Canadians, without elaborating, in an apparent reference to the 100-per-cent tariffs Canada imposes on China’s EVs. He repeated that the government plans to restore subsidies for EV purchases but provided no details.

Mr. Kingston, who represents the Detroit 3 automakers in Canada, said if the government wants people to buy more EVs, it should encourage the installation of charging stations with funding and tax credits for homeowners rather than subsidizing EV purchases.

He called for better regulation of the providers and the standards at the charging stations.

“Charging infrastructure is the biggest barrier to Canadians making the switch,” he said. “If this is inconvenient, we will never achieve mass adoption. That’s just a given and that seems to have been missed in this whole government policy of developing a mandate.”

Que­bec, Man­itoba pro­pos­als could be among first approved under new legis­la­tion

This article was written by Raisa Patel and was published in the Toronto Star on August 27, 2025.

Prime Min­is­ter Mark Car­ney sig­nalled Tues­day that two port pro­pos­als could be among the first major projects approved under a con­ten­tious Lib­eral law, amid a European tour where he sought to bol­ster Canada’s eco­nomic and secur­ity influ­ence abroad.

“Our gov­ern­ment is in the pro­cess of unleash­ing half a tril­lion dol­lars of invest­ment in energy infra­struc­ture, port infra­struc­ture, par­tic­u­larly intel­li­gence infra­struc­ture, as well, with AI, and a num­ber of those invest­ments, the first of which we will be form­ally announ­cing in the next two weeks, are with respect to new port infra­struc­ture,” Car­ney said dur­ing a news con­fer­ence in Ber­lin with Ger­man Chan­cel­lor Friedrich Merz.

He spe­cific­ally cited two projects: a planned expan­sion of the port of Montreal to the city of Contre­c­oeur, and a pro­posed expan­sion of the port of Churchill in north­ern Man­itoba, which Trans­port Canada deems “the only rail­ser­viced deep­water port in North Amer­ica that accesses the Arc­tic Ocean.”

“Some of the examples … will include, from rein­for­cing and build­ing on the port of Montreal, in Contre­c­oeur, (to) a new port, effect­ively, in Churchill, Man., which would open up enorm­ous (lique­fied nat­ural gas) plus other oppor­tun­it­ies, and other east coast ports” for Canada’s crit­ical metals and min­er­als, the prime min­is­ter said.

Later in Riga, speak­ing along­side Latvian Prime Min­is­ter Evika Silina, Car­ney said he could not say with cer­tainty whether those projects would be approved under his gov­ern­ment’s major projects law, des­pite com­mit­ting to unveil­ing fund­ing for one of them in two weeks’ time.

The Build­ing Canada Act was rammed through Par­lia­ment earlier this sum­mer and gave Ott­awa tem­por­ary powers to skirt exist­ing envir­on­mental laws and reg­u­la­tions to fast­track the devel­op­ment of “nation­build­ing” projects like pipelines and ports.

Under the law, such projects will need to be put before a spe­cial­ized office that Car­ney plans to launch Sept. 1, which will review and green­light projects in tan­dem with an advis­ory coun­cil aimed at ensur­ing pro­pos­als respect Indi­gen­ous rights.

“The port of Montreal, that could be one of the first projects. I’m not say­ing defin­it­ively one of the first projects,” Car­ney told report­ers in Latvia, adding that the envir­on­mental assess­ment pro­cess could be del­eg­ated to Que­bec to accel­er­ate approvals.

“With respect to Churchill … there is much more to it than Contre­c­oeur in terms of what it poten­tially unlocks,” Car­ney said, cit­ing not just lique­fied nat­ural gas poten­tial but also the pos­sib­il­ity of Indi­gen­ous par­ti­cip­a­tion, cor­ridors for crit­ical min­er­als, and path­ways into Europe.

Both Que­bec Premier François Legault and Man­itoba Premier Wab Kinew have iden­ti­fied the respect­ive projects as key to diver­si­fy­ing trade and bol­ster­ing Canada’s eco­nomic sov­er­eignty.

On Tues­day, Canada­U.S. Trade Min­is­ter Dominic LeB­lanc; Car­ney’s chief of staff, Marc­André Blan­chard; and Canada’s ambas­sador to the U.S., Kirsten Hill­man, met with U.S. Com­merce Sec­ret­ary Howard Lut­nick in Wash­ing­ton.

LeB­lanc’s office said in a state­ment that both sides engaged in a “lengthy and con­struct­ive” meet­ing, which was held days after Canada walked back its retali­at­ory tar­iffs on U.S. goods covered by the Canada—United States—Mex­ico Agree­ment (CUSMA).

Car­ney in Latvia con­tin­ued to assert that because 85 per cent of the trade between Canada and the U.S. is duty­free, the two nations have the “best deal,” except when it comes to U.S. Pres­id­ent Don­ald Trump’s tar­get­ing of steel, alu­minum, autos, cop­per and soft­wood lum­ber.

“Those are the areas where imme­di­ately we are focused on improv­ing the out­comes, if we can,” Car­ney said.

“In order to do that, we will have to look at other areas where we can have win­win co­oper­a­tion.”

The prime min­is­ter’s European tour, set to con­clude Wed­nes­day, has thus far seen Car­ney talk secur­ity and bilat­eral trade in Ukraine and deepen Canada’s trad­ing and defence rela­tion­ship with Poland.

In Ger­many on Tues­day, Car­ney announced a new crit­ical min­er­als and energy part­ner­ship, and in Latvia, he pledged to extend Canada’s largest over­seas mis­sion for another three years.

Que­bec and Man­itoba premi­ers have iden­ti­fied the respect­ive projects as key to diver­si­fy­ing trade and bol­ster­ing Canada’s eco­nomic sov­er­eignty

This article was written by Mark Rendell and Eric Atkins, and was published in the Globe & Mail on July 23, 2025.

Ottawa assessing ways to help Canadian industry hit by U.S. tariffs, falling zero-emission car sales

The federal government is assessing the appropriate level for its zero-emission vehicle sales requirement as it discusses various ways to support Canada’s hard-hit auto sector, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Ms. Joly said the government is in active discussions with automakers about the ZEV mandate, which requires one in five new vehicles sold in Canada by 2026 to be zero emission. This rises to 60 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035.

Car companies, including Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, have been lobbying Ottawa to repeal the mandate entirely. They say falling electric-vehicle sales in Canada make it impossible to hit the 2026 target, and that the regulation will pile pain on an industry already fighting to survive U.S. President Donald Trump’s auto tariffs.

“I am a very pragmatic person,” Ms. Joly told The Globe. “It’s not the goal of the government to be disconnected from reality when it comes to what is going on across the country, which is, at this point, there has been a drop in sales of electric vehicles and 25-per-cent tariffs.”

“That’s why we’re working with them to find what would be that right level,” she said, noting that the government is also planning to reintroduce its subsidy for EV purchases, which ended in January.

Ms. Joly, who is Ottawa’s point person on the auto industry, declined to provide details about any potential changes to the EV mandate being discussed.

“We are in active conversation to see how can we support them, while continuing to continue in our vision of helping the transition to electric vehicles,” she said.

The federal government has already announced several measures to support Canada’s export-oriented auto industry, which has seen its competitive position eroded by Mr. Trump’s 25-per-cent tariffs on foreign vehicles. (Canadian and Mexican automakers have a partial exemption, and don’t pay tariffs on the value of U.S. auto parts in their vehicles exports.)

In March, Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged $2-billion for a “strategic response fund” aimed at boosting the sector’s competitiveness and supporting auto jobs, and he promised government vehicle procurement would focus on Canadian-made cars. He also introduced a remission system that allows the big U.S. auto companies to export a certain quantity of U.S.-made vehicles to Canada tariff-free if they maintain production levels in Canada.

Automakers and auto workers unions say measures to address trade disruptions need to happen alongside policy changes that account for the fall in EV sales.

Zero-emission vehicles – which include battery, fuel cell or plug-in hybrid vehicles – fell by 32 per cent in May from a year ago to comprise 7.9 per cent of all new car sales, Statistics Canada says. To meet the required ratio in 2026 at current sales levels, carmakers could be forced to withhold one million internal combustion engine vehicles from Canadian dealer lots, according to industry analysis.

“The only way they can avoid the penalty is to cut down on the production of internal combustion engines, which is like shooting yourself in the foot,” said Jeff Gray, president of the Unifor local that represents workers at General Motors Co.’s Oshawa truck plant.

Carmakers that do not meet the thresholds must purchase credits on the open market and/or limit the number of internal combustion cars for sale. The industry says the plunge in Tesla Inc. sales has made credits scarce and expensive, and the sales targets are not attainable.

David Adams, chief executive officer of Global Automakers of Canada, which represents Canada’s largest automakers, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd., and several overseas brands, said any mandate needs to be attainable and updated regularly.

“It needs to be reviewed on a regular basis to make sure that what consumers are purchasing is actually taking us on the right path to meet those targets,” Mr. Adams said, “because it’s easy to throw out numbers; it’s a lot more difficult to convince consumers … to make those purchases.”

The conversations around the ZEV mandate have picked up in recent weeks. The chief executives of Ford Motor Co. of Canada, General Motors of Canada Co. and Stellantis Canada met with Mr. Carney in Ottawa in early July.

There have been subsequent meetings between auto industry representatives and government officials. Mr. Adams said there are four ministries involved in the talks held last week and in June – Industry, Environment, Finance and Infrastructure.

Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, which represents Ford, GM and Stellantis, said he left a meeting last week with Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin feeling discouraged.

“There is a line of communication; however, she has been clear that the government will not repeal the mandate, which is a problem because it is extremely damaging,” Mr. Kingston said. Ms. Dabrusin’s office did not immediately respond to e-mailed questions.

The auto industry is only part of Ms. Joly’s portfolio. She’s also helping lead the government’s efforts to support other industries that have been hit by tariffs, notably the steel and aluminum sectors, which face U.S. levies of 50 per cent.

Ottawa rolled out a broad support package for the steel sector in two phases over the past month. This includes tariffs on steel coming into Canada above a certain quota, $1-billion through Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund to help companies rejig their production and supply chains, and new rules to promote the use of Canadian-made steel in government procurement.

“When you look at the steel sector, the 50-per-cent tariff is an incredible barrier to not only export, but to the business model that was developed at the time, which was basically to support U.S. auto manufacturing. And right now that’s not possible,” Ms. Joly said.

She said the goal of the steel measures is to help producers pivot to supplying domestic markets, including the construction and defence industries. “We need to make sure that they’re developing the type of steel for the industries that we need them to service now in the country,” she said.

The government has not yet announced supports for the aluminum industry, but Ms. Joly said the government is talking with companies about various measures, with a focus on “the smaller players right now that are much more affected.”

The aluminum industry is in a better position than the steel industry because the U.S. is much more reliant on Canadian imports of aluminum, and Canadian producers have benefited from a spike in prices in the U.S.

This opinion was written by Darryl White and was published in the Globe & Mail on July 18, 2025.

With ample financial firepower to invest in the sector and red tape being slashed, now is the time to step up, Chief executive of BMO Financial Group

In April, Prime Minister Mark Carney laid out Canada’s “tremendous opportunity to be the world’s leading energy superpower, in both clean and conventional energy.”

That proclamation set the mood at this year’s Calgary Stampede. Many of our Western Canadian clients – across various industries – are increasingly bullish about Canada’s potential, while understandably reserved until they see more evidence aligning policy with ambition.

Every urban, rural and remote community needs growing private-sector companies, especially large industrial employers, like energy and mining, whose supply chains and professional services needs can multiply their economic impact.

That growth – Canada’s growth – requires attracting more domestic and international capital.

The business community should lean in. Canadian banks are active capital providers and advisers to companies and investors. Our clients, from small to large businesses, want to grow and diversify their client base – and we’re prepared to support.

Successive Canadian governments have done the hard work to create an advantaged global position, with trade agreements covering Europe, North America and many of the Asia-Pacific’s largest economies. These deals give Canadian companies a cost advantage compared with our global competitors.

We know that capital is drawn to competitive tax rates, skilled work forces and consistently applied, development-friendly laws and regulations. But certainty is the unifying theme. To meet today’s moment, leaders and investors need certainty that they will be permitted to get on with the job and let efficient global markets allocate capital to the best opportunities.

So far, Ottawa has begun to deliver. Investment conditions are improving with the landmark multipartisan legislation ending federal barriers to interprovincial trade, encouraging labour mobility, and setting the table for the delivery of “major projects.”

Our collective challenge is now twofold: One, for political parties aligned with this pro-growth, open-for-business philosophy to keep their foot on the gas and, two, for Canadians to keep the faith in its delivery.

That’s a tall order. People want swift results, and our project approval processes are famously sclerotic. A dose of strategic patience supported by relentless execution is the prescription.

We have a generational opportunity to align Canada’s economy to its natural advantages. Canada is home to the conventional energy and critical minerals the world needs and has the geopolitical position to develop them responsibly.

Canada must become the world leader in the responsible extraction, domestic refining and, where viable, manufacturing of end products. We must reposition Canada from a place commodities come from, to the world’s market for value-added natural resources and the products developed from them.

An uncomfortable truth for some is that the industrial processes of refining energy and minerals can be resource- and carbon-intensive. As the world transitions to a cleaner energy economy, demand for these products will only increase, resulting in the extraction and refining of critical minerals, and oil and gas – somewhere.

Do we want it to happen in a country with robust environmental and human rights standards, while our communities prosper from the economic activity through jobs, tax revenues and development? Or, do we hand the reins – and benefits – to countries with weaker standards?

My bet’s on Canada. My former competitor Brian Porter once wrote in these pages that “the last barrel of oil should be a Canadian one.” I agree with him, and would add: bringing to market every critical mineral we can access, for the benefit of all Canadians.

Capturing more value from our natural resources and going beyond exporting commodities is key to our prosperity and improving productivity. Efforts to deliver nation-building projects must favour reforms that strengthen our economy and persistently attract investment – not one-off, time-limited interventions that sound good but miss the mark on permanent economic expansion.

Expediting “major projects” is needed, but competing at our best requires culture change that leads to all projects receiving timely consideration by default, reflecting the urgency and certainty that capital craves. The durability of these changes will be critical, especially as we support newer technologies with higher deployment risk, such as nuclear and hydrogen power, or projects massive in scale, such as EastWest electricity transmission or the Pathways Alliance carboncapture project.

Many will be watching to see how the rubber hits the road, from capital allocators, to international investors, to policy makers of Canada’s competitors. Investors have abundant global options. Our task is to make Canada the easy choice.

Ultimately, it’s an early test of federal and provincial government resolve. The potential to expand Canadian prosperity for decades is before us. It’s a grand bargain that reflects the economic ambitions of all regions of our great country. Let’s capture this moment and set the stage for decades of growth.