If forced to choose, most U.S. companies will submit to the Trump Administration rather than keep commitments to Canada.
Stellantis – one of the world’s largest automakers – has announced they are moving production of the Jeep Compass to Illinois.
Production of the Compass had been originally slated for Brampton, but production there was paused. The CEO of Stellantis openly admitted the move is a response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to move manufacturing back to the United States:
Learn the lesson
While many of Trump’s tariffs may be struck down in court, that doesn’t change the fact that those tariffs are impacting corporate behaviour. With Congress having chosen to abdicate responsibility on tariffs and thus give Trump free rein to interfere with the economy, and with many U.S. corporations choosing to give in to Trump’s demands, Canada must learn this lesson fast: If given the choice between keeping commitments to Canada and doing what Donald Trump wants, most U.S. corporations will choose the latter.
Thus, if Canada wants to protect jobs, we need to rely more on Canadian-owned companies that are committed to this country first and foremost. As I’ve noted before, military production is one of the best ways to do this. A few huge defence contracts for ground-based autonomous vehicles, mobile air defence platforms, light armoured vehicles, and transport vehicles could be given to Canadian companies with the stipulation that jobs and factories are built within Canada. If we want to secure Canadian jobs, that’s how it has to be done. Otherwise, we would be naively relying upon U.S. companies, something that clearly isn’t working out.
Spencer Fernando
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