Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Mexico “shouldn’t have a seat at the table” in upcoming North American free trade talks if it doesn’t match tariffs on Chinese imports.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday that if Mexico doesn’t match Canadian and American duties on Chinese imports, it “shouldn’t have a seat at the table” in the impending North American free trade discussions. Instead, he said that Canada and the United States should concentrate on a new bilateral agreement.
Ford’s remarks coincide with North America preparing for Donald Trump’s return to the White House and a 2026 review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which took the role of NAFTA during Trump’s first term.
Using Mexican-built manufacturing facilities, Trump and Ford have accused Mexico of permitting Chinese businesses to export automobiles and parts into the United States and Canada, circumventing CUSMA regulations.
Ford said in a statement released by his office that Mexico should not have access to the world’s largest economy or a place at the table if it does not combat transshipment by at least matching U.S. and Canadian duties on Chinese goods.
“Instead, we must directly negotiate a bilateral U.S.-Canada free trade agreement that prioritizes the interests of both Canadian and American workers in order to establish the closest economic partnership on earth.”
Earlier this year, Canada joined the United States in imposing 25% levies on Chinese steel and aluminum and 100% tariffs on Chinese-imported electric cars. More conversations are being held in Ottawa about the possibility of extending the tariffs to more Chinese products. Mexico hasn’t done the same.
In Mexico, where several American companies are already producing their cars at a reduced cost, Chinese automakers, including BYD, one of the biggest in the world, are looking to establish production facilities. It is feared that those Chinese businesses would then exploit CUSMA’s duty-free import regulations to saturate the North American market with Chinese automobiles while evading Canadian and American duties.
In contrast to NAFTA, which Trump has said China is also attempting to take advantage of, CUSMA’s rules of origin section mandates a greater proportion of North American components in automobiles sold in the three nations.
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Ford elaborated on his remarks during a separate news conference in Barrie on Tuesday, pointing to a trade imbalance between Ontario and Mexico, which he said exports the great majority of the $40 billion in two-way commerce with his province each year.
“God bless Mexico if they wish to have a bilateral trade agreement with Canada,” Ford stated. “However, I refuse to be sucked down by these low-cost imports that steal jobs from hardworking Ontarians.”
When asked about Ford’s remarks at a news conference with Premier Susan Holt of New Brunswick, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that there have been “varying degrees of concern” over unfair trade practices and Chinese overcapacity and that the best approach to address these issues is via ongoing collaboration.
According to him, we will keep collaborating with allies like the US and, ideally, Mexico to ensure that we have the same goal of defending decent employment in addition to labor and environmental issues.
When it comes to trade difficulties with China, especially with electric Chinese vehicles, Canada has attempted to follow the American example. Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s deputy prime minister and finance minister, stated last week that a united front would provide Canada with a “firm foundation” in future trade talks with the United States.
Additionally, it may support Canada’s decision to forego Trump’s pledge to impose a general 10% tax on all imports into the United States.
In his attacks on immigration and the Chinese car crisis, Trump has specifically targeted Mexican imports. Trump threatened to put a 25% tax on all imports from Mexico “if they don’t stop this onslaught of criminals and drugs coming into our country” during a rally in North Carolina earlier this month.
Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s Economy Minister, implied on Monday that if Trump goes ahead, the Mexican government will have to “retaliate with its own tariffs on American goods,” which he claimed would come at “a gigantic cost for the North American economy.”
Trump stated last month that he may slap tariffs of up to 1,000 percent on Chinese firms operating in Mexico and circumventing CUSMA regulations. He also pledged to apply duties of at least 200 percent or more on all automobiles imported from Mexico, which would negatively impact American automakers in the near term.
Trump would probably not require Congress to enact these tariffs, as was seen in 2018 when he used Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to slap duties on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and other nations without first consulting legislators. According to the Congressional Research Service, Trump has argued that this legislation allows a president to modify import taxes that may have an impact on U.S. national security.
Protecting the American car sector and making sure China can’t take advantage of CUSMA’s rules of origin provision and incentives for imports from North America have been the main targets of Trump’s ire.
But if Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum implements her predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s policies to dismantle independent regulatory and oversight bodies and laws the U.S. government claims could weaken the judiciary’s independence—both of which are necessary under the trade agreement—Mexico may jeopardize its position within CUSMA even more.
Following their condemnations of the judicial changes, López Obrador suspended ties with the Canadian and American embassies in Mexico.