Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the president of Honda Canada has told him a report that the automaker is considering shifting some Canadian production to the United States in response to tariffs is inaccurate.
Japan’s Nikkei financial newspaper says Honda is looking to shift enough Canadian CR-V and Civic production to the U.S. so that it can meet 90 percent of U.S. sales with vehicles produced there, up from its current level of about 70 percent.
Ford and his office say Honda told them the company does want to increase production in the U.S., but not at the expense of Canadian production.
Honda’s operations in Alliston, Ont., has about 4,200 employees and produced around 375,000 vehicles in Canada in 2023.
Ford’s office says Honda has assured the province that the Canadian facility continues to operate at full capacity and there are no job impacts on the horizon.
The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. imposed 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles in early April, including ones produced in Canada despite the free trade deal, significantly raising costs for all importers.
The Nikkei report on Tuesday said Honda would look to increase U.S. production by 30 percent over the next couple of years by hiring more workers and adding shifts to its U.S. operations that also produce the CR-V and Civic models.
When the auto tariffs came into effect on April 3, Honda Canada spokesman Ken Chiu said in a statement that the company was working to understand the impacts of the tariffs and would adopt a “measured, thoughtful approach to actively address both immediate and future effects, ensuring our continued success in Canada.”
Last year, Honda announced a $15-billion commitment to its Canadian operations to create an electric vehicle supply chain in Ontario. The plans, supported by up to $5 billion in public funds, include building an electric vehicle battery plant next to its existing Alliston plant.
On Tuesday, the federal government announced new supports for Canadian businesses affected by U.S. tariffs, including financial supports designed to incentivize automakers to keep producing vehicles in Canada.
