Dear Editor:

As Prime Minister Mark Carney returns home after a significant trade agreement with China, Ontario Premier Doug Ford immediately finds fault.

The trade agreement in question allows China to export 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles, or EVs, to Canada, while Canadian farmers will be allowed to export canola seed to China, both at significantly reduced tariff rates.

Along comes Ford, politicking as usual, and casts himself as the defender of the Canadian auto worker. Sadly, his intellect does not allow him to understand the nuanced strategies behind these agreements.

As U.S. President Donald Trump’s crusade to have all North American cars manufactured exclusively in the U.S. proceeds, Canada needs to replace those defunct jobs. And, we have to start somewhere. Such as with Carney’s recent trade agreement.

And, once the Chinese EVs provide an appetite for these products, the next step will be to have BYD, or some other Chinese car companies, open manufacturing and parts plants in Canada as Honda, Toyota and Hyundai have done.

And guess what? The sky hasn’t fallen.

The hope is that Canadian auto workers can transition from Trump’s fleeing American car companies to jobs provided by Chinese manufacturers.

It’s hardly rocket science, Mr. Ford, but it does involve geopolitics and geoeconomics, so perhaps someone can explain it to you.

J. Richard Wright
NOTL