John Ivison: Why the U.S. doesn’t take us seriously
This is a government that does not take its own national defence seriously, so why should anyone take it seriously?
One early December morning in 2016, Joe Biden got up, inquired into President Barack Obama’s health, and set off for a snowy Ottawa.
The lame duck vice-president was feted at a ritzy state dinner in the capital, where he called on Justin Trudeau to be a defender of the international “rules of the road” during the period of deep uncertainty he predicted would follow Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 45th president of the United States.
“We’re more like family even than allies. I mean that sincerely,” he said – repeatedly.
But Biden has not walked his fine talk. A preoccupation with domestic politics has seen him adopt a protectionist agenda, which contravenes the trade agreement Trudeau hammered out with Trump and the Mexican government.
His Administration is proposing to increase U.S. content requirements under the Buy American program, and its Build Back Better legislation includes incentives for electric vehicles that are already re-shaping the automobile manufacturing industry on this continent. The proposal is to offer incentives worth a maximum of US$12,500 per car on new EVs made in the United States using union labour. (Canada’s federal incentive tops out at $5,000, although a number of provinces have their own offers.)
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Trudeau is in Washington to attend the North American Leaders’ Summit with Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, the first such Three Amigos meeting since 2016. There will be a bilateral meeting with Biden as part of what is billed as an attempt to “deepen economic co-operation and security partnerships.”
After the turbulent Trump years, Biden pledged to lower tensions with America’s trading partners and allies. Yet the U.S. president has proven a fair-weather friend.
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Trudeau is set to echo the comments of ministers Mélanie Joly and Mary Ng, that the EV incentives are “inconsistent” with USMCA . Mexico is also urging that the EV proposal be brought into line with the hard-won trade agreement.
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Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, once called Trump’s proposal to put a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian autos “the car-pocalypse.” But he said Biden’s proposal to lower prices by 33 per cent for U.S-built EVs is even worse. “It’s the same principle but a different medium – and it’s contrary to the WTO and USMCA.”
The implications are already apparent. The Toronto Star reported last week that 3,000 jobs at the Chrysler plant in Brampton, Ont., will be at risk when it stops making the Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger brands in 2023, with manufacture of the replacement electric vehicles set to move to Belvidere, Illinois, to take advantage of the U.S. domestic subsidy.
Stellantis, the company forged by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group, is contemplating building a battery plant in Ontario or Quebec. But Volpe said he imagines that decision will be affected by the same dynamics influencing the siting of vehicle assembly plants.
