Trade war truce? Not so fast. Trump has Canada's auto sector in his sights

One trade war down, two to go — maybe more. U.S. President Donald Trump has dialled back his tariffs against Canada after rattling the economy from the markets, to factories, to the borders. 

But that was this week's battle.

There's another one next week when his steel and aluminum tariffs take effect; then another three weeks after that, when Trump is threatening other tariffs on a multitude of countries.

Private and public comments in recent days from Trump's team make a mockery of the idea that stopping fentanyl was the principal reason for his tariff policy. 

The biggest risk for Canada is now coming into focus. And it's bad news if you're one of the hundreds of thousands of Canadians with a job connected to the auto sector. His target may be you.

In closed-door conversation, members of Trump's team have been pushing auto companies in recent days to commit to drastically scaling back their long-term footprints in Canada and Mexico in exchange for permanent tariff relief — without success so far, according to three sources connected to the industry, who spoke on condition they not be named.

Team Trump has gone nearly that far in public.

His press secretary Karoline Leavitt, asked for her message to car companies fearful of tariffs that are due April, said: "Shift production here."

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Fox News made the same point:

"Why are our Michigan [auto] jobs in Canada?" he asked. "[Trump's] going to say, 'Come on back. Come on back.'" 

Trump himself described conversations he'd had this week with the Big Three U.S. automakers, saying he'd promised a brief reprieve from the previous and so-called fentanyl tariffs to allow them to plan. 

But he warned there would be no exemption from future tariffs. 

"I told them, 'That's it. This was a short-term deal,'" Trump said Thursday, as he signed an order in the Oval Office, retreating from his initial tariff salvo.

"I said… 'Don't come back to me after April 2,'" Trump said of the automakers. "'I don't want to hear from you after April 2.'"