Liberal Leader Carney says Winnipeg's NFI Group may be exempt from Canada's counter-tariffs

Liberal Leader Mark Carney says Canada may exempt Winnipeg's NFI Group from Canadian counter-tariffs on U.S. materials to allow the bus manufacturer to remain competitive on both sides of the border.

During a campaign stop in Winnipeg Tuesday, Carney said there is a "need for so-called remission orders" on counter-tariffs so NFI and all of its subsidiaries remain competitive in Canada and the United States.

"That's smart from the Canadian perspective and that's the kind of approach this government is taking," the Liberal leader said at a manufacturing facility at NFI's campus in the northeast Winnipeg Transcona area.

Early last month, Canada imposed 25 per cent counter-tariffs on American goods, in retaliation for a 25 per cent tariff slapped on virtually all Canadian goods by U.S. President Donald Trump.

NFI, one of the world's largest bus manufacturers, employs about 8,500 people in nine countries. President and CEO Paul Soubry said his company has made efforts for years to work around U.S. protectionism and keep itself afloat in the face of the current trade war.

"Two-thirds of all of our transit buses are physically 100 per cent made in the United States, anyway. The one-third, we build the shell here and we ship them across the border, so I don't see a scenario where we're shutting down Winnipeg and moving it all to the United States," Soubry said after Carney spoke.

"Are we going to have to adjust some of the capacity and some of the … production lines and so forth? We'll see how that comes out. We do have a good-sized Canadian customer base."

By September, all buses made by NFI Group for Canadian customers will be built in Canada, he said, thanks to $38 million worth of federal and provincial funding announced in October, before Trump was re-elected.

"There's a win-win here, because while we can do this and increase jobs for Canadians — high-skilled, high-paid, technical jobs — we free up U.S. capacity that we have for U.S. customers," Soubry said.

NFI Group has weathered a difficult five years, starting with a major slowdown of orders during the pandemic and supply-chain issues that followed it, Soubry noted, adding several of NFI Group's competitors did not survive. 

Carney also met Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew during his Winnipeg visit to discuss retaliatory measures ahead of a new round of U.S. tariffs set to come into effect Wednesday.

Kinew said after the meeting some Manitoba sectors will be part of that response.

"We've heard that's needed," he said. "So you think about … value-added ag manufacturers, they're going to be facing a tariff in the States starting tomorrow. But an American company is going to be able to sell their products in Canada without facing a tariff? That doesn't really make sense."

The premier said the government has been working with other industries like the aerospace and transportation sector so they're not impacted.