Canada’s auto parts industry is expressing concern about a string of investments by Chinese firms in Mexico’s auto industry, moves it argues are designed to skirt rules in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that give favourable tariff treatment to cars made mostly with North American parts.
“All these Chinese companies have access to cheap capital, benefit from a central plan and are part of a wider geopolitical objective to weaken the North American base,” he added. “Canadian suppliers are only just trying to be profitable and solvent in a free market.” At least six Chinese car brands have arrived in Mexico in recent years, among them MG Motors, whose parent company is the Shanghai-based, Chinese-state-owned automaker SAIC Motor. Other recent arrivals include Chang’an Automobile Co., which is owned by a Chinese state-owned automaker headquartered in the city ofAndrew Willis: General Motors is taking the near-shoring approach to an extreme level
He predicted that the rapid rise in China’s share of Mexico’s auto sector will lead to more Chinese auto plants there. “The export controls on graphite and the influx of displacing Chinese automotive investments are a clear signal that we must collaborate more closely to safeguard our industry,” he said.