Trump’s Team Targets Canada’s Auto Manufacturing

Attacking the US and 'elbows up' really pays off doesn't it?

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick didn’t mince words this week. Speaking at the Eurasia Group’s U.S.–Canada Summit, he made clear that Washington’s trade agenda under President Trump has one simple priority: America first, Canada second. According to multiple attendees, Lutnick’s tone was unusually “aggressive,” signalling that the White House intends to pull vehicle assembly and production back onto U.S. soil—even if that means shattering the decades-old economic framework that underpins Canada’s auto industry.
But the deeper story isn’t about Trump’s aggression. It’s about Canada’s weakness. After a decade of governing by virtue rather than strategy, Ottawa has no leverage left. Successive governments prioritized moral signalling over industrial policy—chasing green targets, expanding bureaucracy, and taxing productivity—while the ...