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President Donald Trump waiting to greet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the West Wing of the White House, Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Washington.

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Auto sector tempering expectations of Carney-Trump meeting

By The Canadian Press

Published 11:50 PDT, Mon October 6, 2025

Last Updated: 2:21 PDT, Mon October 6, 2025

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The Canadian auto industry is tempering its expectations of Tuesday's high-profile meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The industry is among those suffering the most from steep U.S. tariffs and its representatives tell The Canadian Press they're looking for positive signals on Tuesday — but not much more.

Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, said this meeting is likely just one part of ongoing discussions and he's not holding his breath for an immediate outcome.

"I don't expect that we're going to see an agreement that removes all tariffs on automotive," he said.

Kingston said the tariffs are doing great damage to his industry and manufacturers' costs are mounting each day that goes by without an agreement.

"This is unsustainable and it is ultimately doing severe damage to the North American auto sector. So we need agreement and we need it now," he said.

Trump announced on social media Monday he'll impose a new 25 per cent tariff on medium and heavy-duty truck imports on Nov. 1. He made the announcement just as a White House press briefing was ending.

Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, said he hopes to see some positive signals coming out of the working meetings.

"It's good, especially with this president, to have (those) face to face," Volpe said. "I'm happy that Team Canada is going down there. We were there last week. I didn't really hear a lot of urgency from American voices on Canadian interests, so hopefully this refreshes a lot of their minds on just how close we're integrated."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed at a press briefing Monday that trade is expected to be a topic of discussion when the two world leaders meet.

But Marty Warren, national director of the United Steelworkers union, said he worries the meeting could produce a "half-measure" the prime minister might "try to sell as a victory."

"If Carney is just going down for another visit and doesn't come home with something tangible, I think it was a mistake on his part to go even to visit," Warren said.

"He's raised a lot of expectations and there's a lot of people, not only in steel but softwood lumber as well and aluminum, that feel if he's going down, he should becoming home with something — and I'm sure (Conservative Leader Pierre) Poilievre will let him know that if he comes home empty handed."

Poilievre offered Carney support in a letter ahead of the meetings. But the Conservative leader also said in question period he doesn't want to see the prime minister fly all the way to Washington D.C. "just to go for lunch."

– Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press