World leaders have accused President Donald Trump of announcing new tariff measures this time aimed at the automotive industry.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has offered one of the most outspoken ratings, saying it marked the end of the tough bonds his country and the United States once enjoyed.
“We’ve deepened our economic integration and ended our old relationship with the United States based on strict security and military cooperation,” Carney said.
“We need to dramatically reduce our dependence on the US. We need to pivot trade relations elsewhere. And we need to do things we previously thought were impossible at a rate we’ve never seen for generations.”
Carney’s remarks arrived shortly after a new enforcement declaration from the Trump administration, placing a 25% tariff on all foreign-made cars imported into the United States from April 2nd.
Officials in both Canada and Mexico have denounced Trump’s tariff campaign for breaching a free trade agreement signed by the three countries in 2019 during his first term as the US president.
However, United Autoworkers (UAW), one of the most influential trade unions in the United States, praised Trump’s decision as a victory for domestic workers.
“We praise the Trump administration for stepping up to end the free trade disaster that has devastated working-class communities for decades,” UAW President Sean Fein wrote in a statement.
He condemned the free trade agreement for sending manufacturing jobs to cheaper markets overseas.
“These tariffs are a big step in the right direction for autoworkers and blue-collar communities across the country, and are now with automakers who are trying to get good union jobs back to the US from Big 3 to Volkswagen and others,” Fein said.
However, critics warn that tariffs will not immediately affect job creation for Americans, as it takes time to build new production lines for Americans.
“Donald Trump says this will help revive the US car construction process,” explained Al Jazeera correspondent Alan Fisher.
“But of course, if someone is trying to build a plant, it would take two, three or four years beyond Trump’s tenure.”
Experts in some industry even predicted that tariff burdens could stop automobile production.
Flavio Volpe, president of the Canadian Auto Parts Manufacturers Association, explained that nearly two million cars built in Canada are being built for American auto companies. Meanwhile, these Canadian factories source half of US auto parts and raw materials.
Volpe said it serves as an example of how deeply intertwined the international automotive industry is.
“Everything the White House is trying to do for Canadians is (do) directly to the three largest U.S.-based automotive companies,” Volpe told Al Jazeera.
“The industry is likely to close on both sides of the border within a week,” he added.
Since the 25% tariff was announced, US automaker General Motors has seen a sharp decline in stocks. This, along with Ford and Stellantis, is considered one of the “Big 3” automakers in the US.
Since the start of his second term as president, Trump has bullied tariffs on car imports.
In February, for example, he told reporters at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that tariffs would do so. “We’re “nearly 25 percent,” but he’ll announce them at a later date, allowing the manufacturer to adjust for “a little chance.”
Media reports have shown that American automakers are worried that such tariffs will disrupt their businesses.
At an investor meeting in February, Ford CEO Jim Farley said that cross-border tariffs had threatened to “pull holes in the US industry” over the long term.
Already, US trading partners are preparing to oppose tariffs, raising the spiral trade war.
German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz, for example, said, “The United States has chosen to lie only the losers, as tariffs and isolation hurt the prosperity of everyone.”
Kearney similarly suggested negative outcomes of the global economy and a solid response from Canada.
“We will fight US tariffs with our own retaliatory trade measures that have the biggest impact in the United States and minimal impact in Canada,” Carney said.
Let’s be clear. We are all on the same page. We will not retreat. We respond with force. Nothing is off the table to protect our workers and our country. ”