What former PM Trudeau says of the risks of U.S. economic coercion

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OTTAWA — Former prime minister Justin Trudeau is warning that American tariffs threaten to drive Canada closer to China in the auto sector.

Speaking at a CNBC event in Singapore on Thursday, Trudeau said “economic pressures and coercion” nearly drove Canadian aerospace company Bombardier “into China’s arms” almost a decade ago.

Trudeau said that when Bombardier began building its C-Series jets, both American aircraft maker Boeing and Dutch manufacturer Airbus did “everything they could” to keep Bombardier sales grounded.

“They were talking to all their customers, ‘Don’t you dare put in an order for the C-Series! Don’t you dare, don’t you dare!’ And finally, Bombardier started really struggling,” he said.

“So what happens? China comes knocking on Bombardier’s door and pulls up a dump truck full of money … So Boeing and Airbus, that were busy trying to put out Bombardier out of business … almost drove us into China’s arms.”

Trudeau said he raised the issue at the 2017 G7 summit in Italy with U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and now former German chancellor Angela Merkel.

After that meeting, Trudeau said, Airbus began purchasing Bombardier’s C-Series jets -- a move he attributed to the talks at the G7.

Trudeau said a similar scenario is playing out now, with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada’s automakers pushing it to explore closer auto sector ties with China.

In 2024, Canada imposed 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, matching a U.S. move, and citing unfair trade practices.

In 2025, Trump imposed punishing duties on the Canadian auto sector.

In January, after a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Mark Carney secured tariff relief for Canadian agricultural sectors in exchange for allowing up to 49,000 Chinese EVs into the country at a reduced tariff rate of 6.1 per cent.

Trudeau said the episode with Bombardier shows that bad-faith competition between nations that are supposed to share values only gives an advantage to countries that don’t share those values.

“We’re seeing a similar thing happen right now with President Trump. Threatening the Canadian auto industry, where we’re now having to look at working with China because the American industry doesn’t want to work with us anymore,” Trudeau said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2026.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press