Trudeau needs to 'get his hands dirty' to deal with Biden's Buy American policy: Mulroney

With U.S. President Joe Biden forging ahead with a new 'Buy American' strategy for the auto sector, former prime minister Brian Mulroney says that it's time for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to head to Washington, D.C. and 'get his hands dirty' making his case for why the proposal is wrong.

Biden laid out his Build Back Better budget framework Thursday, a plan he promises will create millions of American jobs, and includes an electric vehicle tax credit on U.S. manufactured cars.

This is of concern to Canada, with International Trade Minister Mary Ng warning that this kind of provision could harm jobs in Canada’s auto manufacturing sector, and may even contradict existing trade agreements.

‘”There are a lot of protectionists in there [Congress]. The Prime Minister has to see beyond that, and get down there, and get his hands dirty working with the Americans and saying: ‘This is wrong,’” Mulroney said in an interview with Evan Solomon that is airing on CTV’s Question Period on Sunday.

“The Prime Minister's got to say ‘this is unacceptable to Canada, privately, and here's why.’ Make his case, and I'll bet you $1 to a doughnut, good things are going to happen.”