U.S. President Donald Trump visited a Ford factory in Dearborn, Mich., Tuesday and dismissed the relevance of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, saying the U.S. doesn’t need the trade deal and that “Canada would love it.”
“The problem is we don’t need their product. We don’t need cars made in Canada, we don’t need cars made in Mexico, we want to make them here,” Trump said to reporters
Trump’s stop at the Ford plant comes as part of a broader effort to spotlight U.S. manufacturingand counter fears about a weakening job market.
“All U.S. automakers are doing great,” Trump said, later adding that the “quality is unbelievable.”
The Michigan plant is where the company produces its flagship F-150 pickup trucks.
Trump said CUSMA has no “real advantage” for the U.S and is “irrelevant” to him. The trade deal comes up for mandatory review this year with formal talks set in mid-January ahead of a July deadline.
While CUSMA has helped Canada avoid the widespread impacts of tariffs on the economy, the steel and aluminum, lumber and auto sectors have been hit hard.
Tuesday’s visit – his third to a battleground state in just over a month to promote his economic agenda – comes after Republicans suffered setbacks in November’s off-year elections in Virgina, New Jersey and other U.S. states, as concerns over everyday, cost-of-living pressures mounted.
Trump has previously dismissed worries over affordability as a “hoax” fuelled by Democrats. Even so, while his administration has imposed broad tariffs on U.S. trading partners, it has carved out notable exceptions for the auto sector, including extending reduced import duties on foreign-made auto parts through 2030.
Speaking on the factory floor, Trump highlighted tariffs on vehicles imported from China and said he expects to prevail in the U.S. Supreme Court, which is currently considering the legality of his wide-ranging tariff measures.
Donald Trump United States President
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