‘We won’t back down’: Global leaders threaten backlash to Trump auto tariff

Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has been attacked by international leaders for introducing a new tariff measure aimed at the auto industry.

One of the most honest assessments, made by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, said it signaled the end of the US and his nation’s long-standing ties.

The previous relationship between us and the United States, which was based on closer cooperation between our economies and tight security and military cooperation, is now over, according to Carney.

We will need to significantly lower our reliance on America. Our trade relationships will need to be moved elsewhere. And we’ll need to move forward at a pace not seen in a generation, as was previously thought impossible. ”

Beginning on April 2, the Trump administration will start imposing a 25-percent tariff on all foreign-made vehicles imported into the US in response to Carney’s remarks.

Trump’s tariff campaign is being condemned by officials in both Canada and Mexico as a retaliation for the free trade agreement that the three nations signed in 2019 during the US president’s first term.

However, the most powerful labor union in the US, the United Auto Workers, applauded Trump’s choice as a win for domestic workers.

Working-class communities have been devastated by the free trade disaster for decades, according to UAW President Shawn Fain in a statement.

He attributed free-trade agreements to allowing cheaper export markets for US manufacturing jobs.

According to Fain, “These tariffs are a significant step in the right direction for autoworkers and blue-collar communities across the nation, and it is now on the automakers, from Volkswagen to Volkswagen, to re-establish good union jobs in the US,” according to Fain.

However, critics caution that the tariffs will take time to build new production lines in the US, so they won’t have an immediate impact on job creation.

According to Al Jazeera correspondent Alan Fisher, “Donald Trump claims that this will help revive the American car-building industry.”

However, it will take two, three, or perhaps four years for anyone to construct a plant after Trump takes office. ”

Some experts in the sector even predicted that car manufacturing would be put to a halt as a result of the burden of tariffs.

Nearly two million cars built in Canada are made for US car manufacturers, according to Flavio Volpe, president of the Canadian Automotive Parts Manufacturing Association. Meanwhile, those Canadian factories import a large portion of US car parts and components.

That exemplifies how deeply intertwined the global automotive industry is, Volpe said.

According to Volpe, “Anything the White House is trying to do to Canadians will [be] directly delivered to the three biggest US automotive companies,” Volpe told Al Jazeera.

Within a week, he added, “the industry is likely to shut down on both sides of the border.”

US automaker General Motors’ shares have fallen dramatically since the 25-percent tariff announcement was made. Along with Ford and Stellantis, it is regarded as one of the “Big Three” car producers in the US.

Since beginning his second term in office, Trump has been easing tariffs on imported cars.

For instance, he stated to reporters in his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in February that the tariffs would be “in the neighborhood of 25%,” but he would make them public later to give manufacturers a chance to adjust.

According to media reports, US car manufacturers were concerned that their businesses would be impacted by these tariffs.

Ford CEO Jim Farley stated at a conference for investors in February that cross-border tariffs were going to “blow a hole in the US industry” over the long term.

US trading partners have already begun to prepare to retaliate against the tariffs, accelerating a trade war that is already in full swing.

For instance, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz remarked, “The US has chosen a path whose end lies only losers, since tariffs and isolation harm prosperity for everyone. ”

Additionally, Carney made mention of Canada’s strong response and negative effects for the global economy.

We will use our own retaliatory trade strategies to combat US tariffs, according to Carney, with the least impact in Canada and the most in the United States.

Source: Aljazeera