Canadian automakers breathed a sigh of relief Thursday after U.S. lawmakers scrapped part of a massive incentive package for electric vehicles that would have excluded those assembled in Canada from a proposed consumer tax credit.
Flavio Volpe, CEO of Canada's Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, said the importance of the proposed amendment could not be overstated and, coupled with the hundreds of millions of dollars the Canadian government is funneling into EV and battery manufacturing, should give the EV sector the boost it needs. "This couldn't be a bigger vote of confidence in the North American auto sector," he told CBC's Katie Simpson. "All of these new investments in Canada now have an incredible runway to have this rebirth of Canada's auto sector." Volpe said the "Buy American" restriction in the original Build Back Better bill posed a worse threat to the Canadian auto industry than any of the trade restrictions the previous administration of Donald Trump had imposed.
Although Canadian consumers won't directly benefit from the tax credit, the hope is that incentivizing EV consumers in the U.S. will spur manufacturers to make new investments in Canada and rev up related industries, such as critical mineral mining, to help meet growing demand on both sides of the border.
International Trade Minister Mary Ng said the development is good news for workers and manufacturers. "As the bill moves through Congress, we will continue to advocate for the importance of maintaining these integrated supply chains and growing a greener and more prosperous future for North America," she said.
This was excerpted from the 29 July 2022 edition of CBC News.