Canadian Prime Minister Tells Trump to Back Off, EV Deal with China Doesn’t Impact USMCA

by Michael Strong

Published: January 26th, 2026

canadian prime minister tells trump to back off ev deal with china doesnt impact

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says the new deal to import up to 70,000 new electric vehicles from China doesn’t change the terms of terms of the USMCA free trade deal with the U.S.

Carney attempted to calm the trade waters between the two countries Sunday after President Donald Trump threated to slap Canada with a 100 percent tariff, if it completed a deal with China that would allow the country to import electric vehicles into Canada for sale.

Canadian officials reached a new agreement with China that would allow for 49,000 EVs to be imported and sold in Canada, with the total rising to 70,000 during the next five years. The deal called for tariffs on those vehicles to be lowered from 100 percent to just 6.1 percent.

Trump’s response to the announcement was swift and predictable.

“If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken,” Trump posted on Truth Social Saturday.

What’s the deal

Speaking to the media Sunday, Carney noted the deal with China does not violate the terms of the current free trade agreement between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. He added there are no plans to enter into a free trade agreement on the order of USMCA.

Notably, Mexico imports cars from China. MG Motor, JAC Motors, BYD, and others sell a variety vehicles in Mexico; however, Trump hasn’t yet threated Mexico with a special tariff due to its importation cars from China.

Canada and China reached a tentative deal Jan. 16 to lower tariffs on some goods — including EVs from China — exchanged between the two countries. Canadians bought about 1.8 million EVs last year so the total from China would account for less than 3 percent of all EV sales.

[Images: FotoField/Shutterstock.com, Lucas Parker/Shutterstock.com]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#Trump #Tariffs #MarkCarney #Canada #Sales #USMCA #trumptariffs

Michael Strong

Michael Strong has spent more than 25 years writing about the automotive industry. A Detroit-area native, he’s written about everything from local car shows to product reviews to financial news. Currently he writes and edits for a variety of national and local publications. He’s also a longtime member of the Automotive Press Association and the International Motor Press Association, and a graduate of Georgia Southern University. Hail Southern! Despite a love for ’70s land yachts and BMWs from the late ’80s and early ’90s, his personal vehicle is neither of those.

More by Michael Strong

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 85 comments

Erin J. Oldfield on Jan 27, 2026

nice

1 Reply
Arthur Dailey on Jan 27, 2026

Just announced. A 'win' for the European auto manufacturers.

'Leaders of the European Union and India announced a wide-ranging trade agreement on Tuesday

Tariffs on cars imported from Europe from auto companies such as Volkswagen, Renault and Mercedes-Benz, will be slashed to 10 per cent from what now runs as high as 110 per cent on some vehicles.

"This is the tale of two giants, the world's second and fourth largest economies. Two giants who choose partnership in a true win-win fashion." '

2 Reply

Recent Comments

Amwhalbi My 1972 Mercury Capri was my first stick shift car. God, I miss that thing. It was a blast to drive.
Vid169489471 The technology exists today to produce a variable color temperature (kelvin) LED lamp. It can vary from 2700k that soft orange look to 6500k the bright daylight with the bluish tint.Since everything in a late model car is computer controlled, it would be an easy task to write a few lines of code that enables your vehicle to not only dim down from hi to low beam but to shift color temp down to the 2700k range for oncoming traffic, then back up to 5000k once oncoming traffic has passed. For the operator it would be automatic and seamless. For older cars they could be retrofitted with LEDs that are 2700k on low beam and 5000k on hi beam. As far as standards, there could be a lumens max, and a minimum. Several States already have minimum lumen standards going back to the old incandescent bulbs. Why not update these to national standards.
Jam169859557 More regulation is needed for ALL vehicle lighting systems. [list=1][*]The lighting that is most blinding are the rapidly flashing red, blue and amber lights on emergency vehicles. The lights themselves are blinding, flashing so rapidly that it's impossible for even the sharpest eyes to adjust. What's worse, is the nature of the emergency requires a careful view of the area surrounding the emergency vehicle. There is something going on that needs to be seen. More flashing lights is not the solution.[/*][*]Brighter headlights need to be regulated. The tall riding vehicles do not need headlights positioned so high that they blind drivers in lower riding vehicles. And those heasdlights need to be aimed properly. When I first started driving my 2020 Subaru Outback, many drivers would flash their lights, hoping I would dim my lights. This stopped after I performed am easy adjustment that tilted the beam lower. Late model Subaru headlamps are designed with a sharp cutoff that project less glare above the hood line. When the headlights are properly aimed, other drivers are not blinded by the beam.[/*][*]Customized light assemblies make it more difficult to see the marker lights (tail lamps, turn signals and side marker lamps) that have been tinted. There are many municiple codes that prohibit this tinting, but these laws are seldom enforced.[/*][/list=1]Solutions: Tight controls on emergency vehicle lighting. In trying to make these vehicles more visible, a dangerous side effect is reducing the ability of drivers to see the surrounding perils.Headlight design regulations that reduce the height of the headlight assemblies. Just because a pickup truck has a hood that sits 4 feet abouve the pavement, it does not mean the headlights need to be so high. Owneres should maintain proper adjustments to their vehicle headlights.Establish and enforce regulation requiring a illumination standard be followed.
Stl170698708 as someone who hates big government, and their interference;but you can add me to the list of people that are blinded by the lights.unfortunately "the poop is out of the horse and no way is it going back in"They have had 5 years to make lights bigger, badder and brighter because in the vehicle work it is go big or go home!Trucks are the worst because so many people use them to express their dominance and that is big, big, big $$ both at the Original Purchase and in the Aftermarket world.If, we are so lucky to get some good government regulation on this it will also take some very good Court enforcement to get the aftermarket people with fines and lawsuits.Much like the EPA did with the Diesel Tuner Industry that felt emission regulations didn't apply to them.This is from someone that owns said pickup truck with the same bright headlights,but i only use the truck when I have too and always turn off the Fog lights when driving in traffic.
Art65765977 I saw a porsche 911 with the most amazing headlights from behind approaching the Sunshine skyway in Florida. The pattern was 108 degrees across sweeping the road like a broom. My brother and I were amazed. I don't know what it looked like from the front but i am sure it was better than American cars