Jack Ewing
Canada’s decision this month to give Chinese carmakers a toehold in the country’s car market may be an ominous development for US automakers that are already struggling to stay relevant outside North America.
General Motors and Ford Motor — the two largest US-based car manufacturers — have been steadily losing customers in Asia, Europe and Latin America, as Chinese carmakers have gained ground. Now Canada plans to lower tariffs on a limited number of Chinese-made vehicles, potentially giving companies like BYD or SAIC a small but significant presence on the US’s northern border after already building a thriving business in Mexico and much of Latin America.
If they lose significant ground to Chinese companies in Canada, Mexico and other countries where they once dominated, Ford and GM could gradually become niche manufacturers, said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan. They will end up primarily making and selling large pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles that tend to sell less well in much of the rest of the world.
“There’s a real danger that the market for US carmakers is going to largely to be the US, and only that part of the US market that wants big S.U.V.s and trucks,” Gordon said.
First Published: Jan 25 2026 | 11:35 PM IST
