The CEO of Ford Canada says free trade agreements matter, but they have to be fair to all involved.
Dianne Craig, president and CEO of Ford Motor Company of Canada, has spoken out in opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which was signed by Canada in the dying days of Stephen Harper’s Conservative government.
She plans on discussing TPP in a meeting later this month with government officials — her position is TPP will not be favourable for Canadian manufacturing exports.
In particular, Craig is concerned about the five-year tariff phase out for Canadian vehicle exports, as opposed to a 30 year phase-out awarded to the U.S.
“Getting trade agreements right matters, because it attracts auto investments and ultimately to make sure we can export outside of Canada,” she said.
Craig said Ford has come out the other side of last decade's automotive crisis through investment and modernization, like a recently expanded southern Ontario plant.
“In 2012 we had a $700-million investment in the Oakville assembly plant. Now we have 5,200 people working out of that plant. It’s 2,200 more than was working there three years ago,” said Craig.
The Oakville plant now exports to Europe, which it did not do prior to restructuring.
“It’s not just the paradigm there used to be between the U.S. and Canada — and in some cases Mexico — it’s building vehicles for around the world,” she said.
Last month, Georgian College awarded Craig with an Honorary Bachelor of Applied Studies degree.
Craig recognizes some parallels between the automotive crisis and one currently affecting Canadian steelmakers.
“Today our company is very healthy, we just came off a record profit year last year. It wasn’t for naught. Industries as big as ours — like the steel industry — have 100-year-old legacies to deal with,” said Craig during an event today in Sault Ste. Marie.
Essar Steel Algoma in the Sault and the idle U.S. Steel Canada mill in Hamilton are both going through restructuring.
Craig said the years between 2006 and 2008 were especially tough times for the automaker.
“There was 120,000 employees around the globe that lost their jobs when we went through our restructuring, 57,000 in North America. When you go through that kind of pain, cutting, terrible time you need to make sure it’s all worth while in the end,” said Craig.
A total of 28 assembly plants closed worldwide during Ford’s restructuring, two of which were in Canada.
The Essex plant has since reopened and Craig says Canada’s automotive industry is now “really strong.”
