The General Motors Co. plant in Oshawa, Ont., has been gearing up over the past several months to start producing GMC Sierras and Chevrolet Silverados this year. The $400-million investment will help it meet rising truck demand across North America, the automaker said.
But while the plant is being repurposed to pump new trucks off the line, contentious negotiations around the North American Free Trade Agreement — which could dramatically impact the auto industry — have continued. Indeed, the very future of GM’s truck production in Oshawa may be in question if Canada and Mexico can’t prevent the United States from sprinting out the exit it appears to be eagerly eyeing.
Goldman Sachs said in a recent report it expects the U.S. to announce its intention to withdraw from NAFTA, which U.S. President Donald Trump has called the “worst trade deal ever made” and repeatedly threatened to terminate.
Without NAFTA, truck exports to the U.S. face a steep 25-per-cent tax, which analysts and economists believe would force GM to move truck production from Oshawa to one of its facilities south of the border.
This was excerpted from the 4 January 2018 edition of the Windsor Star.