Union boss says new Ontario council to fight ‘fire with fire’ when it comes to U.S. protectionism
Posted December 12, 2021 4:33 pm.
Last Updated December 12, 2021 7:20 pm.
The head of Canada’s largest union says it’s time to “fight fire with fire” when it comes to fighting protectionism and better protecting workers in Ontario against trade agreements with the United States.
Last week, the Ford government unveiled the Premier’s Council on U.S. Trade and Industry Competitiveness aimed at protecting workers on both sides of the border against what it calls U.S. protectionist measures in industries such as auto, lumber, steel and agriculture.
Unifor boss Jerry Dias, who will chair the new council, says the province is at a “critical juncture” in its relationship with the U.S. and there is a need for co-ordinated efforts between Ontario and the labour unions to protect the local economy.
“We need to be prepared to fight fire with fire, that’s what my role is going to be, that’s what my advice is going to be,” he tells CityNews, citing the recent example of tax credits being considered in the U.S. which threaten to undermine efforts to produce electric vehicles in Ontario.
“They’re proposing a straight buy-America provision for the auto industry that will give $12,500 rebates on American assembled vehicles,” explained Dias. “Well, it sounds nice in theory because we are very much understanding that government should put their own citizens to work, but the auto industry is so complex, it’s as if the border doesn’t exist. I don’t know how the U.S. would be able to determine what vehicles are built with majority U.S. parts.”
Vehicles built in Canada comprise about 50 per cent U.S. content, with more than $22-billion worth of American auto parts being imported by Canadian manufacturers every year while vehicle assembly and auto parts production directly supports nearly 100,000 jobs in Ontario alone.
On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Trade Minister Mary Ng promised to impose tariffs on a raft of U.S.-made products if Congress approves a controversial incentive for U.S.-made electric vehicles. The tax credit proposal would amount to a 34 per cent tariff on electric vehicles assembled in Canada.
Dias claims what the Americans are doing violates the terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, but taking the matter before the World Trade Organization has had little effect when it comes to past disputes.
“The U.S. doesn’t care,” he says. “If I look at the softwood lumber dispute, every time we go to the WTO when they implement protectionist laws, we win, but it doesn’t matter, they proceed anyway.”
Premier Doug Ford said the auto industry in particular could be at risk if the co-operation between the U.S. and Ontario stops.
“It would be very difficult for the United States to build electric vehicles without our raw materials,” says Dias.
The value of trade between Ontario and the U.S. was estimated at $358 billion in 2020 amounting to 53 per cent of the total merchandise trade between Canada and the U.S.
Watch: Unifor national president Jerry Dias on teaming up with the Ford government to fight U.S. trade measures in Ontario
Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report
