Prime Minister Mark Carney. Canada’s auto sector is at risk, and the Carney government is helping to increase that risk rather than lower it. While the prime minister and his team have denounced the decision by Stellantis to sell its Brampton assembly plant, it turns out they were in on the talks all along. They have also been actively recruiting Chinese vehicle-makers to come set up shop in Canada. Publicly opposed, privately involved With the Stellantis sale, that may happen sooner rather than later. According to reporting by CTV, Stellantis will lease back part of its plant from defence firm Roshel to build Chinese electric vehicles from knock-down kits. A knock-down kit is essentially a vehicle that would be assembled in Canada with parts shipped over from China. None of the parts would be sourced in Canada and only the final assembly would happen here. That means fewer jobs in Canada, a major reason why Ontario Premier Doug Ford is so opposed to them. “We cannot undermine the future of Canada and Ontario’s automotive sector by allowing the introduction of Chinese-made knock-down kits at the Stellantis Brampton facility,” Ford wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier this week. Except, as reported by CTV, Carney and his team were part of the negotiations that resulted in the sale of the Stellantis plant and the plans to build EVs from kits at the facility. In his letter, Ford said that allowing Chinese EV kits to be assembled here would put more than 75,000 jobs at risk and that it puts Canada’s position as a global manufacturing hub for autos in jeopardy. Lessons from Europe and South America Ford has reason to be concerned based on the impact of Chinese EVs on auto manufacturing in South America and Europe. Stellantis had to cut a shift at its El Palomar plant in Argentina after Chinese EV competition dried up exports to Brazil. Meanwhile, BYD, Chery, GWM and other Chinese manufacturers have set up assembly plants in Brazil, once an auto manufacturing powerhouse. The industry there claims 69,000 jobs are on the line. In Germany, thousands of layoffs have already happened, with more coming, in part due to the rise of Chinese auto sales. In 2021, Chinese-made autos accounted for less than 1% of European auto sales. It now stands at just shy of 10%. In Brazil, China went from 2% of the market in 2021 to 20% today. Those are massive increases in market share, but they come at a price, one that Canadian workers might be paying soon. Cheap cars, costly consequences The Carney government has been lavish in its praise of Chinese autos. Ministers like Melanie Joly and Maninder Sidhu have toured EV makers’ plants in China while singing their praises. Carney himself was praising Chinese EVs during his trip to China earlier this year. “These are the most affordable and energy efficient and innovative vehicles in the world,” Carney said during a speech in Beijing in January. Having driven a Chinese EV, I’d disagree. Carney is off to China again next week, all part of his plan to get closer to Beijing and further away from Washington. Politically, that might work for Carney and the Liberals, but for Canadian workers, this will be a bad deal. Building cars from Chinese knock-down kits won’t sustain the jobs at Canadian auto parts plants. It won’t even replace the lost assembly jobs we’ve already lost. China doesn’t trade like other nations, and history shows that when Beijing wins market share, somebody else’s workers pay the price. RECOMMENDED VIDEO
Liked by Oliver Lavoie, Sophie Rogers
Liked by Oliver Lavoie, Sophie Rogers
Liked by Oliver Lavoie, Sophie Rogers
