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 country’s economic foundation quietly eroded.
Usually when Ministers build industries they like to cut ribbons, wear hard-hats and brag to locals about how many jobs they are creating. Instead, it’s almost like the government doesn’t want Australians to know about all the Clean Green transformation.
Perhaps because it looks like this?
From the press release: The Truth Map totals include:
31,000 wind turbine towers — six times the current national number to be replaced every 15-20 years, operating 30% – 40% of the time.
28,000 km of high-voltage transmission lines — longer than [half] a lap around the equator*.
7,800 km of undersea cabling — cutting through fragile marine habitats.
44,000 km of new haulage roads — longer than Australia’s coastline.
350–550 million solar grid panels covering 443,755 hectares — an area larger than metropolitan Sydney to be replaced every 25 years, operating 18% – 25% of the time.
$1.38 trillion in total costs — overwhelmingly subsidised by taxpayers.
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