Canada, Mexico agree to team up to fight U.S. auto tariffs

Foreign Affairs Anita Anand, right, and Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Roberto Velasco Álvarez walk together to hold a joint press conference in Ottawa on Friday, July 17, 2026. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK/Postmedia

Article content

Canada and Mexico will work together to try to get the U.S. to cut auto tariffs on imports from the two countries, Mexico’s foreign affairs secretary said Friday at a meeting with his counterpart in Ottawa.

Article content

Roberto Velasco Álvarez said the auto industry will be a key part of Mexico’s “general co-ordination” with Canada in preparing for negotiations with Washington over the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement, which the U.S. declined to renew by a July 1 deadline, setting off annual reviews with accompanying negotiations.

Article content

Article content

Article content

“This is part of the conversation we’ve had with the United States,” Velasco told reporters in a joint press conference with Anita Anand, Canada’s foreign affairs minister. “And of course this is part of the conversations that we have with Canada in terms of our general co-ordination around (North American free trade).”

Article content

Article content

The meeting of the ministers and Velasco’s comments suggest that Canada and Mexico are trying to join forces to get a deal, or deals, with Washington to maintain the low-barrier trading relationship that has existed since the beginning of NAFTA in 1994. U.S. negotiators have signalled a preference to negotiate separately with Canada and Mexico as much as possible.

Article content

When asked about the touchy issue of Chinese-made electric vehicles, which are now permitted in both Canada and Mexico, Velasco seemed to suggest that the issue will be on the table during talks with Washington. The U.S. maintains punishing tariffs on Chinese vehicle imports and the Trump administration and a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers are working to block the vehicles from even driving into the country.

Article content

Article content

Chinese-branded autos, including MG Motor, Chery and BYD, represent up to 19 per cent of the Mexican market, although very few of those vehicles are made in North America.

Article content

Article content

Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed in January to allow up to 49,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles a year into the Canadian market (about three per cent of total sales) at a reduced tariff rate of 6.1 per cent in exchange for reduced duties on Canadian seafood and some key agricultural products.

Article content

To qualify for duty-free access to the U.S. market, vehicles must meet strict rules of origin for both labour and parts.

Article content

Anand said the three North American countries will work together on autos and other difficult trade issues in what is one of the most integrated regional markets in the world.

Article content

Despite all three countries seeming to enjoy clear economic benefits since NAFTA, U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed a series of tariffs on Canada, Mexico and many other countries that have impeded trade. They included a 25-per-cent tariff on vehicles imported into the U.S., which has upended Canada’s auto industry, resulting in significant layoffs and lost investment. General Motors has closed an auto plant in Ingersoll, Ont. and eliminated a shift at an Oshawa, Ont. assembly plant. Stellantis has postponed the re-opening of a plant in Brampton, Ont.