As the threat of U.S. tariffs on imports of Canadian-made vehicles continues to loom, the Canadian auto industry is on high alert.
Toyota, for one, is playing things cool, remaining cautious and avoiding making any big decisions as it and everyone else awaits developments.
Toyota Canada CEO Cyril Dimitris has been in place since January 1st, and in his first public statements he told journalists at the Toronto Auto Show last week that trade between Canada and the U.S. is “very balanced and working very well.”
To Dimitris, the current rhetoric appears to be part of a broader negotiating strategy by the U.S. administration. The company’s policy is that “If we see a new tariff policy, we'll have to take the time to look at it carefully and assess any potential impact on our industry and our consumers before we're in a position to react.”
He added the company doesn’t want to speculate on what might happen, preferring to wait for actual events before commenting. He sought to reassure, however, mentioning that the “ecosystem of talent and infrastructure” that the company has built up over the past 60 years is not going to disappear.
Toyota Canada has been present in Canada since 1964. Today, it employs 8,500 workers, and last year alone assembled over 500,000 vehicles at its plants in Cambridge and Woodstock, Ontario.
We’ll know more about the U.S. threatened tariffs on products from Canada in early March. As well, President Trump more recently mentioned April 2nd for the imposition of tariffs specifically on Canadian-made vehicles destined for the U.S. market.
Industry analysts agree that 25-percent tariffs on products from Canada will plunge the North American auto industry into crisis and possibly paralyze production, threatening its very profitability. And that is what is leading many to conclude that the current threats are part of a larger negotiating strategy to do with trade between the two countries.
Stay tuned.
