By Agence France-Presse
Canada announced Thursday it was reducing tariff-free import quotas for carmakers Stellantis and General Motors (GM) in response to their moves to scale back manufacturing in the country.
Ottawa is reducing the annual quota eligible for tariff relief by 24.2 percent for GM and 50 percent for Stellantis, the Canadian finance ministry said.
Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement that his government was “deeply disappointed” with the two companies.
“These unacceptable decisions are in contravention of their legal obligations to Canada and the Canadian workers, which is why we are reducing their import remission quotas,” he said.
US tariffs under President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policies have impacted Canada’s car industry, and soured relations between the two North American neighbors and historic economic partners.
Last week, European maker Stellantis announced plans to increase its activities in the United States by moving the production of the Jeep Compass from Canada’s Ontario to Illinois, in the US Midwest.
On Tuesday, GM announced it would abandon production of BrightDrop electric delivery vans north of the border, citing insufficient demand.
Champagne, the Canadian minister, said the government “will not hesitate to take strong action to protect” the auto industry, which employs approximately 125,000 people, most of them in Ontario province.
Last year, Canada produced around 1.3 million cars. Of these, 1.1 million were exported to the United States.—Agence France-Presse
