Manufacturers relieved, dairy farmers angry in wake of NAFTA replacement deal
TORONTO — Canada’s automakers appear to be the big winners from a renegotiated trade pact between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, while steel and aluminum makers and dairy producers have less to celebrate.
The breakthrough deal reached Sunday night, that U.S. President Donald Trump said he plans to call the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, exempts a percentage of eligible auto exports from tariffs, one of the biggest wins in the new deal, said David Adams, president of Global Automakers of Canada.
“One of the largest things is just having certainty now in terms of what the trading relationship is, and what the business environment is going to be going forward. Because business desperately needs certainty and uncertainty is anathema to getting things done.”
The new deal makes enough Canadian auto exports tariff-free to be a de facto exemption, and gives hopes that metal tariffs could be reversed, said Frederic Bastien, an analyst at Raymond James in a note.