With Honda scare, Carney and Poilievre ramp up election pitches to voters

OTTAWA — The threat of seeing Japanese automaker Honda move some of its production south of the border, in the wake of a global tariff war, has caused Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre to stress why they should be in the driver’s seat come April 28. Japanese news outlet Nekkei threw much of Canada into a panic early Tuesday after it reported that Honda is working on plans to switch its production from Mexico and Canada to the U.S. However, Canadian officials came out to say the report was not accurate. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who spoke to the president of Honda Canada, said the Nekkei report was “not accurate at all” and that Honda instead wants to “increase production.” Federal Industry Minister Anita Anand also put out a statement to calm the waters. “Honda has communicated that no such production decisions affecting Canadian operations have been made, and are not being considered at this time,” she said. Earlier in the day, Carney was asked to comment on the unconfirmed reports that Honda would be moving its production away from Canada. While he remained prudent in his answers, he said it was a possible downfall of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. “It’s a war, and we can’t provide guarantees for every situation,” Carney said during a media availability in St-Eustache, a suburb north-west of Montreal. “That just underscores how important … the negotiation with the U.S. President (is) and who is going to be across the table for that global approach, who knows how to get the deal that will build out for our auto industry and other industries in Canada,” he said. “I’m running hard so that I can be at the table for Canada to win for Canadian workers.” In a call last month, Carney and Trump agreed to “begin comprehensive negotiations about a new economic and security relationship” immediately after the election. On Tuesday, Poilievre also condemned Trump’s targeting of Canada in general terms. “President Trump deserves nothing but condemnation for the unfair targeting of Canada while he’s lifting tariffs and backing down on tariffs all around the world, continues to terrify our auto sector,” he said at an announcement in downtown Montreal. “There’s nobody who’s going to be able to control President Trump, as Mr. Carney is learning despite his promises,” he added. Poilievre stressed that Canadians need a change in government. “The need is change. This is a change election, change that you can afford food and a home, change that your paycheck grows faster than your cost of living, change that you’re safe in your neighbourhood,” he said. Until now, Canada has been hit by three waves of U.S. tariffs — on all goods that are not protected under the CUSMA agreement, on steel and aluminum, and on automobiles. The U.S. tariffs of 25 per cent on Canadian automobiles came into effect on April 3, and Canada responded by imposing 25 per cent tariffs on non-CUSMA compliant vehicles made in the U.S. and non-Canadian content of CUSMA compliant U.S. vehicles on April 9. This has resulted in hundreds of layoffs and suspension of production in at least two auto plants in Ontario — Stellantis in Windsor and General Motors in Ingersoll. The news that Honda might shift its production to the U.S. had the workers in the facility in Alliston holding their breath. Just last year, Honda, with the federal and provincial governments, announced $15 billion for two new plants for electric vehicles and batteries. The Ontario premier said that would not change: “We’re going to keep Honda here.” “We can confirm that our Canadian manufacturing facility in Alliston, Ontario, will operate at full capacity for the foreseeable future and no changes are being considered at this time,” said Honda Canada spokesperson Ken Chiu in a statement. “We constantly study options for future contingency planning and utilize short-term production shift strategies when required, to mitigate negative impacts on our business.” The federal government is not waiting for the situation to worsen and announced new support for Canadian businesses affected by tariffs — including automakers. On Tuesday, it announced a “performance-based remission framework for automakers” which is designed to incentivize production and investment in Canada. The exemption to some of the countermeasure tariffs announced by Canada in response to the U.S. tariffs is contingent on automakers continuing to produce vehicles in the country and moving ahead with their planned investments, according to a press release. “In other words, our counter-tariffs won’t apply if they continue to produce, continue to employ, continue to invest in Canada,” said Carney. “If they don’t, they will get 25 per cent tariffs on what they are importing into Canada.” Carney said he has been speaking with CEOs of major automotive companies. He said he has been hearing loud and clear that the auto industry is “incredibly integrated” in North America and that tariffs would effectively erase profit margins for automakers. “They’re very concerned,” he said. “They don’t think that the (Trump) administration is taking into account how integrated the industry is.” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt reiterated on Tuesday Trump’s goal is to put U.S. auto workers “first.” National Post calevesque@postmedia.com

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