As uncertainty remains around North American trade relations, one automotive player is saying the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) is “very important” to keep the industry well-integrated.
Speaking to Global News at the Calgary Stampede on Sunday, Jack Uppal, president and managing director of General Motors Canada said CUSMA protects the North American industry against other global players and “makes it stronger.”
Last week U.S. President Donald Trump said his country would not be renewing the agreement in its entirety to 2042 (the termination date of the pact’s potential 16-year extension) and instead would require an annual review. If no extension is agreed upon, the agreement will expire in 2036.
Last month Trump suggested that the U.S. is “better without” CUSMA, and that he’d even prefer to see it “terminated.” When asked by Global News, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra would not say if the administration is considering ripping up the deal, which can be done by any party with six months’ formal notice.
CUSMA has largely shielded Canada and Mexico from the effects of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Uppal said tariffs is something GM has been monitoring closely, but so far the company has been able to protect its go-to market price points.
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“What we need to focus on really is ensuring that we keep our customer in the lens and we manage the affordability piece,” he said.
GM finished the first half of 2026 as Canada’s best-selling automaker, with 15.4 per cent market share and 148,640 vehicles delivered. That includes more than 30 per cent in growth of electric vehicle (EV) sales year-over-year. Even in Alberta, which has some of the lowest uptake of EVs, GM EV sales increased around 30 per cent.
“We are in an environment that is quite uncertain from a geopolitical perspective; we’ve got tariff noise, but at the heart of it is affordability,” Uppal said. “So that’s where I would really respond to those challenges. We have to double down and really focus on ensuring that we’re delivering value across our product portfolio to our customers to dampen the noise that nobody can really change.”
Despite shifting significant production to the U.S., Uppal said many of GM’s values still align with Canadian consumers.
“We are seeing the consumer really demanding more choice, more tech, more connectivity,” he said. “Choice is absolutely critical.”
Uppal said he does believe the uncertainty surrounding the trade agreement will “sort itself out” as talks continue among the three countries. But Canadian government officials are less certain.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told The Canadian Press he asked U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer how he intended to structure discussions as part of the annual review. He said the request was made jointly with Mexican Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard.
“There wasn’t an answer at the meeting … It was agreed that we would continue the conversation over the coming weeks,” LeBlanc said.
The renewable annual review process, set in motion by the Trump administration, could last up to 10 years. At the end of that period, the agreement would expire if no path forward is found to extend it beyond its 2036 expiry date.
Exactly how those annual reviews will be conducted has yet to be determined.
– with files from Mackenzie Gray, Global News and The Canadian Press
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