Ford is at the forefront of negotiating with Trump

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Following Donald Trump’s re-election, there are serious questions about whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can mend his relationship with a notoriously vengeful man he has belittled for years. That’s why we were happy to see Ontario Premier Doug Ford acknowledge that the political calculus has changed.

On Tuesday, Ford noted that Mexico is being used as a “backdoor for Chinese cars, auto parts and other products into Canadian and American markets.” If Mexico doesn’t take action by “at least equalizing Canadian and U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports,” Ford argued that we should “prioritize the world’s closest economic partnership by directly negotiating a bilateral U.S.-Canada free trade agreement that American and Canadian workers first.”

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This is similar to the rhetoric Trump embraces. During his campaign, Trump criticized China’s use of Mexican auto parts factories as a means to circumvent trade restrictions and gain a foothold in the North American market, and threatened to impose tariffs of up to 200 percent on Mexican vehicles unless the country takes action. to put an end to the practice.

There is no doubt that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its successor, the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), have been enormously beneficial to the Canadian economy. Ideally, the highly integrated North American Free Trade Area will last for years to come.

But if Trump is willing to throw CUSMA on China and use Mexico as a backdoor to the North American market, Canada must be willing to play ball — and recognize, as Ford said, that maintaining our trade relationship with the US is much more important. more important than ensuring Mexico’s continued compliance with the agreement.

This, it should be noted, is exactly what Ford was suggesting: not that Mexico should be expelled from CUSMA, but that if the country is not going to take the threat from China seriously, as Trump has demanded, Canada and the US may have to do so . go it alone.

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In all likelihood, Chinese automakers will see the writing on the wall and refrain from further investments in Mexico, at least for the next four years. The government of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum will also realize that Chinese investments would not be able to compensate for the losses the country would suffer if it were no longer part of CUSMA.

The only question is how much pain all parties will have to endure to get to that possibility. And in this regard, following Ford’s lead by speaking Trump’s language and employing similar negotiating tactics seems like a politically smart move.

Unfortunately, this is not the kind of deft political maneuvering we can expect from Justin Trudeau. Within days of Trump’s election, the liberals formed yet another new system defunct cabinet committee on US-Canada relations, to give the impression that Ottawa wants to get ahead of the situation. But the bad blood and significant policy differences between the two leaders threaten to derail our relationship with our most important trading partner.

One of those big differences is how they view China. Trump was one of the first world leaders to criticize Beijing for its aggressive trade practices and economic warfare. Trudeau, on the other hand, has had a lot of contact with China over the past decade. Even repeated warnings from our intelligence services that the communists were actively interfering in our elections were not enough for him to take the Chinese threat seriously.

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Ford clearly understands that by publicly acknowledging that Beijing is not a willing player and that future trade negotiations may involve difficult choices, Canada and Mexico will be seen as allies, not adversaries, in future negotiations with the Trump administration. Of course, Ford can only do so much, since his government has no control over international trade agreements. But as premier of the province where the vast majority of Canada’s auto sector is located, Ford’s vote carries weight.

More importantly, he shows that at least some Canadian politicians are able to put aside any personal differences with Donald Trump and focus on finding mutually beneficial solutions.

The relationship between Canada and the US may be tense in the coming year, but the prospect of a new Conservative government in 2025 and provincial premiers who can find common ground with the new government offers hope for the future of our bilateral relationship. Trump’s influence could even prove to be the impetus Canada needs to up its defense game and start taking the threat from adversaries like China seriously.

National Post

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