Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre unveiled the party’s most substantial auto strategy to date under his leadership, which he says will both bring back production to Canada and be “highly attractive” to partners south of the border.
“Canada’s auto sector must stay alive and it must have access to the U.S. to do so,” Poilievre said while in Windsor, Ont., on Sunday.
Poilievre said he’d like to institute a tariff-free auto pact and has a plan to restore Canada’s auto production to two million cars per year over the next 10 years.
Also included in the plan is a call to remove the GST on all Canadian-made vehicles, something the NDP and Conservatives proposed during the 2025 general election campaign.
The proposal was announced amid Poilievre’s first visit to the United States since U.S. President Donald Trump launched his trade war, a significant marker in the Conservative leader’s shifting focus on global trade pressures brought about by the Trump administration.
“He’s going down there to sell Canada, it’s what we have to do,” Conservative labour critic Kyle Seeback told Rosemary Barton Live.
Seeback said the purpose of the trip is not to give the impression that there are two prime ministers in Canada.
Rather, he said, with the CUSMA (Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement) review coming up, Poilievre is making the case to U.S. business leaders about the importance of the trading relationship and how tariffs can hurt both countries.
WATCH | Conservative labour critic on the party’s auto plan, Poilievre’s U.S. trip:
Federal Conservatives pitch new auto strategy as tariffs roil industry
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has announced a plan for the hard-hit auto sector that aims to secure tariff-free access to the U.S. market and boost Canada’s auto production. Chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton speaks with Conservative MP Kyle Seeback, the party’s labour critic, about the plan, as well as Poilievre’s U.S. trip.
Will Trump agree?
At the heart of this auto strategy is the push to get Trump to drop tariffs on Canada by selling this strategy as a better way to restore U.S. manufacturing.
This push rests on the assumption that Trump is open to solving its trade relationship with Canada, despite there being a lack of evidence to suggest willingness on the part of the administration.
Asked how he’d get Trump to give the green light, Poilievre says his plan addresses the president’s desire to repatriate production to the U.S. and would see a “massive production gain” on both sides of the border.
Poilievre meets with workers and politicians at Cavalier Tool and Manufacturing in Windsor, Ont., on Sunday. (Pratyush Dayal/CBC)
A 1-for-1 car deal
Poilievre laid out a one-for-one deal, where for every car manufactured in Canada, he said, that same producer would get a car to sell duty free from a partner in CUSMA.
This can be sold as a “win, win,” said Seeback.
“It’s a better way for the United States to reshore the auto manufacturing in their country while preserving their best export market for autos, which is Canada.”
Seeback says this strategy harkens back to the 1965 auto pact that kick-started free trade between Canada and the U.S., prior to the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Seeback said this new version of the auto pact would position Canada to be able to harmonize with the U.S. on Chinese electric vehicle policy, part of Poilievre’s strategy to bring “maximum leverage” to the CUSMA review.
“When you put these things together, helping them restore their auto manufacturing, preserving the Canadian market and better alignment on things like Chinese electric vehicles, we actually think there’s an opportunity to get that deal,” said Seeback.
The federal government recently struck a deal with China to bring tariff relief for Canada’s agricultural and seafood sectors.
In a move that broke ranks with the U.S., Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed to allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into Canada, lowering a 100 per cent tariff on imports, imposed in 2024, back to six per cent.
A tale of three strategies
The U.S. strategy has been focused on protecting its big three automakers: General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Stellantis.
To thwart Trump’s protectionist policies, Carney’s approach has been to diversify Canada’s trading partners and look to attract European, Japanese and Korean automakers to Canada.
Now, more than a year after Trump returned to office, Poilievre is looking to show his plan for dealing with the White House.
For decades, Canada’s sales pitch to the world has rested on having tariff-free access to the U.S. market. Seeback said that if that’s not the case, there’s “not a single producer in the world” that will come to Canada to start new production.
Seeback calls Carney’s approach “managed decline” and said he does not believe it will work.
Poilievre said that even Mexico would have to accept the plan to avoid ending up with something “much worse.”
More U.S. meetings ahead
On Friday, Poilievre was in Detroit to meet with senior executives of General Motors and Ford. He crossed the Detroit River back into Canada Sunday to make his auto strategy announcement in Windsor.
His U.S. travel will continue with stops in Texas and New York, with no visit planned for the U.S. capital.
In an interview on The Paul Wells Show podcast, Poilievre said he updated Carney about his travel plans on the margins on Question Period last Wednesday and plans to debrief him once he returns.
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