Ford Canada CEO Dianne Craig will raise concerns about the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership (TPP) when she meets with Canadian government officials this month, according to Digital Journal. Like many, the Ford Canada CEO feels that the TPP will leave the country susceptible to losing a great number of jobs in the manufacturing sector to countries with a lower cost of labor.
Also on Ms. Craig’s list of talking points: the need for Canada to increase subsidies in order to lure jobs to the country. According to Digital Journal, Ontario in particular has lost jobs to the USA and Mexico over the past several years, thanks largely to lower labor costs and arguably, less-competitive business incentives.
Canadian auto worker union Unifor estimates that as-is the Trans-Pacific Partnership would cost the country some 20,000 jobs by reducing tariffs and decreasing content rules. Over the next five years, Canada’s 6.1 percent tariff on imported passenger vehicles would be eliminated entirely, making Japanese imports significantly cheaper in the Canadian market.
But not all are as pessimistic about the implications of the TPP as Ford Canada CEO Dianne Craig. Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association President Flavio Volpe said that the group’s 81,000 or so workers are about evenly split between larger companies that would likely benefit from the partnership, and smaller ones that might suffer. He said: “On one hand, prospects to supply vehicle assembly in foreign markets will open for large Canadian suppliers with multinational footprints and access to mobile capital. On the other hand, small and medium-sized suppliers to Canada’s vehicle assembly supply chain will face new competitive pressure from large, multinational firms from TPP countries and further abroad.”
Be sure to check out Digital Journal for the full scoop.
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