“If China wanted to come in and open a plant to build their cars here, I’d be okay with that,” Trump said in an interview on the Fox News program “The Ingraham Angle.”

However, he put one condition: Chinese automakers should not build cars in Mexico and ship them to the United States.

“I’m not knocking Chinese cars,” Trump said further.

The US President’s statement arrived immediately after American Senator Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, said there were “rumors that Trump is planning to allow Chinese cars to be sold in the US as part of a larger deal ‌he’s ⁠putting together. ” That would be a strategic mistake.”

Trump, however, called Slotkin’s statement a “total phony rumor” and said he had kept Chinese vehicles out of the United States.

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However, the timing of the development is precariously interesting, with Canada’s auto sector already grappling with 25% US duties on vehicles.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has vowed to lift the ratio to 50% from January 1, 2027 onwards, putting further pressure on the industry, which is known for having a deeply interconnected manufacturing and supply chain ecosystem across North America.

According to details of the ⁠agreement released by the Canadian union Unifor on Saturday, GM offered to spend CUSD 144 million to add the next-generation heavy-duty GMC Sierra truck to a plant in Oshawa and pledged not to immediately sell or close a second assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario.

“GM has promised to invest over CUSD 1 billion (USD 720 million) in Canadian plants. That includes a CUSD 691 million commitment to support production of new V8 engines in Ontario that was previously announced in April,” stated the union, which represents 4,600 GM workers in the province.

The deal offered ‌Canadian ⁠workers a yearly 3% wage increase over the next three years.

“The new agreements include meaningful improvements to wages, benefits and job security, and recognize the valuable contributions of our represented employees while helping sustain good-paying jobs that have long been a cornerstone of Canada’s automotive industry,” Jack Uppal, GM ⁠Canada president, said in a statement.

The automobile sector emerged a key part of talks between the Washington and Ottawa to reduce American tariffs on Canadian-produced vehicles.

Negotiations between the two broke down in August over unresolved issues like whether to cut duties on medium- and heavy-duty vehicles that are critical for Canadian factories.

While Canada has said it cannot ⁠accept a trade deal unless the agreement ensures the survival of the country’s robust auto assembly and parts industry, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has replied by stating that Canadian negotiators only raised demands to include medium-and heavy-duty trucks just ahead of the ⁠deadline for securing a deal.

American and global automakers had hoped the trade talks would provide relief from Washington’s original 25% tariffs, which have raised the cost of shipping vehicles and parts across the border.

As per the Barclays’ research, about 17% of ⁠GM’s Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck production, its top-selling model, is currently in Canada.

Talking about the others, Japanese automakers Toyota and Honda, which account for more than three-quarters of all cars made in Canada, may be forced to shutter some production lines if the tariffs go into effect on January 1 as threatened by Trump, analysts said.

The tariff warfare between Washington and Canada further complicates the business prospects of the Japanese automakers, who are already facing heat in the global markets due to the rapid proliferation of low-cost Chinese EVs.

The United States remains Toyota’s and Honda’s biggest market, with Chinese rivals like BYD not allowed in.

In 2025, Canadian-built cars accounted for almost a quarter of Honda’s United States sales and 17% of Toyota’s, the most among major automakers, ⁠as per the Barclays analysts.

“If you really wanted to destroy the Canadian auto industry, you could with these tariffs. Both companies would likely have to close some of their Canadian assembly lines,” said Julie Boote, autos analyst at Pelham Smithers Associates in London, while speaking with Reuters.

Japanese automakers at dire straits
Canada’s auto industry produces around 1.2 million cars a year and indirectly supports some 427,000 jobs. Toyota’s exports from the North American major to the United States include the RAV4, while Honda exports the CR-V.

Both cars are among the best-selling SUVs in the world’s largest economy.

Not only Japanese, but over the years, American (including GM), European, and South Korean car companies and their suppliers have built production chains across North America, taking advantage of cross-border trade deals and, especially in Mexico, lower labour costs.

However, the existing 25% tariffs have now changed the cost dynamics. Toyota, in the last financial year, ended up spending some 1.4 trillion yen (USD 8.8 billion) extra.

The world’s largest automaker aims to invest up to USD 10 billion over five years to expand its US operations. That will include a new USD 3.6 billion auto plant in Texas, with the intention of moving production of the Tacoma pick-up truck from its Baja California plant in Mexico.

Honda, already grappling with its unprofitable car business, has had to reassess its North America expansion plans, with a senior executive recently acknowledging to the media that the future now hinges on the USMCA. Hyundai has also been vocal about the policy uncertainty surrounding the trilateral trade pact affecting its investment decisions.

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“We need to have those capabilities in Canada. We need to have those jobs in Canada. It constitutes a huge part of our industrial complex, both in Ontario and Quebec,” Ambassador Mark Wiseman told Reuters.

“From the Canadian perspective, the preservation of a robust assembly and parts industry in Canada is critical,” he added.

Wiseman’s pushback comes after Trump’s move to impose 50% tariffs on USD 20 billion in Canadian goods as bilateral trade talks collapsed a week before. Unresolved issues that pulled down the discussions included whether to cut tariffs on medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

Canada has responded with USD 20 billion in tariffs that will take effect September 8. Trump’s new tariffs hit sectors including wine, furniture, dairy products, cement, clothing, fishing rods, and hockey equipment.

The duties do not exempt Canadian products under a three-nation trade deal that also includes Mexico and has shielded most Canadian exports to the United States in the past 18 months.

“We ‌will ⁠continue to talk so long as talking and negotiation are producing positive momentum. So we’re not picking up our toys and going home, but we have a plan. We have resolved. We’re not moving out of the neighborhood, neither is the United States,” Wiseman said, while expressing hope about the trade deal getting done.

Wiseman stated that the US congressional elections in November did not influence the selection of tariff targets for Canadian retaliation. Asked if Ottawa is considering more drastic measures, the official refused to divulge further details.

From the American side, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has defended his administration’s handling of the Canada trade talks.

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During an investor day in Spring Hill, Tennessee, Barra stressed that while sales of electric vehicles (EVs) are increasing, profit margins on conventional ICE-powered vehicles have not peaked, as sources had previously told Reuters. That includes 2025 profits in the same range as 2024, she said.

“I believe before the day is done, that you’ll agree that GM has plenty of upside relative to the consensus view that the auto industry has reached peak profitability,” Barra told investors.

The automaker’s restructuring in China and updates regarding its Cruise autonomous vehicle operations, which have been troubled since an incident in which one of its self-driving cars dragged a person, piqued the interest of investors.

Barra did not provide further information on the restructuring efforts in China, other than to say that it is improving sales and cutting inventories there. She stated that Cruise has gone back to supervised driving in a few cities.

Paul Jacobson, the chief financial officer of GM, responded that the company would not lose more than USD 2 billion in 2025 when pressed for further information regarding Cruise.

The slower-than-anticipated EV transition has caused many automakers to adjust plans, including GM and rival Ford, and GM’s recent messaging focused less on aggressive growth and more on stability.

Barra stated that the automaker still anticipates the electric vehicle segment to reach positive variable profitability by year’s end, which is defined as revenueless expenses like labour and materials.

She acknowledged that EV demand has fallen since the company set ambitious production and profitability goals three years ago.

According to Jacobson, GM anticipates lower prices in 2025 and a USD 2– USD 4 billion decrease in operating losses from EVs.

He also noted that GM should receive an additional USD 800 million in manufacturing credits from the Inflation Reduction Act this year. GM shares closed slightly at USD 46.01.

“A lot of the presentation was focused on reducing complexity, and that leads to lower cost and greater profits, so that’s all favourable,” said Tim Piechowski, portfolio manager at ACR Alpine Capital Research, a GM investor.

In contrast to Ford and Toyota, Reuss stated that GM is not losing out by forgoing hybrids shortly.

“There is a high demand for gas-powered cars, and emissions regulations won’t increase until 2027, when GM plans to launch plug-in hybrids,” he said.

During tours of the battery and electric vehicle assembly operations at GM’s Tennessee plant, investors witnessed the company’s Ultium Cells battery technology, which is one of the main topics of discussion at the event.

Kurt Kelty, head of battery cells, announced that the company will no longer use the Ultium name on its batteries.

He stated that going forward, GM will have greater options regarding battery chemistry and configuration. It is important for GM’s EV branding to abandon the Ultium name, particularly after the company emphasised it in Super Bowl commercials.

Meet Mary Barra: The Visionary

Mary Barra’s vision for GM includes an aspiration for a world devoid of accidents to protect lives, emissions-free to pass on a more healthful planet to future generations, and traffic-free to restore to customers their most valuable possession-time.

“Her main objective is to create superior customer experiences and bolster GM’s core automotive and service business, while simultaneously working on groundbreaking technologies such as electrification, autonomous driving, and software development,” Reported CBS News back in September 2024.

Barra held the positions of senior vice president, global product development, and executive vice president, purchasing and supply chain, at General Motors before taking on the role of CEO. In these capacities, Barra and her groups oversaw the worldwide design, engineering, and quality of GM vehicle launches.

Her past roles included plant manager at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly, vice president of global manufacturing engineering, vice president of global human resources, and various executive engineering and staff roles.

In 1980, Barra started working for GM as a co-op student at the Pontiac Motor Division of the General Motors Institute (Kettering University).

Before earning a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1990, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1985.

Barra is a member of the Detroit Economic Club, the Duke University Board of Trustees, and the Walt Disney Company Board of Directors.

GM Charts The Road Ahead

During her ten years as CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra has made big investments in software and driverless cars.

At a 2021 trade show, Barra said, “At General Motors our vision for the future is a world with zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion. The key to unlocking that vision is electrification.”

But it was her promise three years ago to stop selling gas-powered vehicles by 2035, and GM’s ability to live up to it, that will likely define her legacy.

Asked if she anticipates GM will be all-electric by 2035, Barra replied, “For our light-duty vehicles, yes. We’ll be guided by the consumer, but the plans that we have in place will get us there.”

Nonetheless, in the face of slowing EV sales, Barra said, “I don’t think we ever thought it was gonna be linear.”

Tesla still dominates the market with nearly half of the electric vehicles on the road in the United States. But their market share is shrinking. And with nine all-electric cars and trucks currently available, and four more on the way, GM wants to catch up as soon as possible.

As of October 2024, GM has remained bullish on its electrification efforts despite weakening EV demand, but the automaker is rebranding its Ultium battery cell technology. Two GM-LG Energy Solution joint-venture plants manufacturing the lithium-ion battery packs that are assembled into fuel cells for EVs will continue to operate as Ultium Cells LLC.

Reportedly, GM reevaluated its strategies surrounding batteries, including a USD 3-billion investment in an alternative EV battery technology via a partnership with Samsung SDI.

“As GM continues to expand its EV business, the company is no longer branding its electric vehicle architecture, battery and cells, or EV components with the Ultium name, starting in North America,” the automaker stated.

CEO Mary Barra has further told the media that GM will produce 200,000 EVs in North America in 2024, and arrive at some modest profitability on EV sales during Q4.

GM’s internal combustion engine offerings have remained the basis for its current profitability, and like Ford and Stellantis, GM too is signalling to buyers that those models will continue to be available.

The transition away from the internal-combustion-powered vehicle models will include more hybrid vehicle options, rather than solely depending on the electric options.

The Ultium platform is in place for all of GM’s current electric vehicles, and it is also supplied to Honda for some of its United States-based EV offerings. There are joint-venture Ultium Cells plants operating at Warren, Ohio, and Spring Hill. Construction has been delayed on a third Ultium plant in Lansing, Michigun.

Ultium is a low-cost battery technology, based on a fuel-cell design that allows higher energy density and uses less non-active material, meaning there is more room for the part of the battery that produces energy.

However, one issue for the company has been it reporting USD 104 million loss in China recently. Barra said the company is working with joint venture partner SAIC to restructure and return the business to profitability.

China was once GM’s largest retail market. However, deliveries fell by nearly half over six years, from just over 4.04 million vehicles to 2.1 million units in 2023.

To offset this, apart from launching new energy vehicles, GM is “aggressively” pursuing structural cost reductions to aid in the return to profitability. It is reportedly laying off staff in the world’s second-largest economy.

“I think when we look at the strength of the Buick brand and the China brand, there’s a path forward in this market that we do believe, over the course of the midterm, is going to resume to growth,” Barra said, while reassuring the investors about the prospects of GM returning to the growth path in China.

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According to a statement from Samsung SDI, the two businesses will invest roughly USD 3.55 billion to construct a battery cell manufacturing facility with an initial production capacity of 27 gigawatt hours (GWh).

Shares of Samsung SDI rose as much as 3.2% in morning trade, versus benchmark KOSPI’s 0.3% fall.

GM and Samsung SDI first revealed the plan in April 2023, announcing that the joint venture would require over USD 3 billion, have a 30 GWh production capacity, and start operations in 2026.

The joint plant is expected to reach mass production in 2027, and expansion plans could potentially increase annual capacity to 36 GWh, according to the South Korean battery manufacturer.

The CEO of Samsung SDI and Kurt Kelty, the General Motors vice president of battery cell and pack, said they had met to complete the battery joint venture.

Kelty said the plant will have the “capability to expand up to 36 GWh, building prismatic cells, which will be added to our battery technology portfolio, helping us to continue to increase performance and lower costs in the future.”

GM stated last year that production lines for both cylindrical and prismatic cells rich in nickel were anticipated at the Indiana facility.

As the automaker relies on demand from its gasoline-powered models, GM lowered its annual forecast for EV production in June. GM revised down its earlier estimate of 300,000 units to 250,000 units as the upper end of its 2024 electric vehicle production.

Meanwhile, in an effort to stave off competition from Chinese competitors, Samsung claims that it will offer seven years’ worth of Tizen operating system updates for its more recent AI-powered TVs.

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As per a Reuters report, the new rules will require the chargers to be built in the States “immediately,” with 55% of the production cost will be coming from US-made components by 2024.

Earlier, manufacturers voiced concern over a slowed rollout from “imposing a domestic components quota too soon in the program rule.” Now, the new rules will allow more time for companies to abide by the ‘Made in America’ deadlines.

All the chargers built must comply with the U.S. standard for charging connectors, called “Combined Charging System” (CCS), which is described as allowing drivers to “use standardized payment options; a single method of identification that works across all chargers; and work 97% of the time.”

As the new rules come out, Tesla will have to modify their charging stations to “add a permanently attached Combined Charging System connector or adapter that charges a CCS-compliant vehicle.”

As the Joe Biden administration finalized standards for a USD 7.5 billion ‘National Electric Vehicle Charging Network’, Tesla has now agreed to open to the public at least 7,500 chargers on its proprietary network, a shift in the earlier stance, where the Electric Vehicle manufacturer’s charging network used to be unavailable for the other brands.

“The new standards will ensure everyone can use the network – no matter what car you drive or which state you charge in,” the White House said.

“The open chargers will be distributed across the United States. They will include at least 3,500 new and existing 250 kW Superchargers along highway corridors to expand freedom of travel for all EVs, and Level 2 Destination Charging at locations like hotels and restaurants in urban and rural locations. All EV drivers will be able to access these stations using the Tesla app or website,” as per the White House statement.

Tesla now has plans to double its full nationwide network of Superchargers, according to the announcement.

The Joe Biden administration’s EV aspirations include having 50% of new electric car sales by 2030, apart from the rollout of a 500,000-public-charger network. According to the White House, there are more than 3 million EVs registered in the US till February 2023 and more than 130,000 public chargers are active within the country.

“Effective immediately, final assembly and all manufacturing processes for any iron or steel charger enclosures or housing occur in the United States. By July 2024, at least 55% of the cost of all components will need to be manufactured domestically as well,” the White House said.

Along with Tesla, the White House highlighted work being done by companies like General Motors, EVgo, Pilot, Hertz and bp in the EV charging space.

“These companies and others are announcing new commitments to expand their networks by thousands of public charging ports in the next two years, using private funds to complement federal dollars and putting the nation’s EV charging goals even closer within reach,” the statement remarked.

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