February 12, 2025

On Wednesday February 19th 2025, Executive Director, CTMA, Robert Cattle attended this event hosted by The Empire Club.

Our very own (Past President CTMA) David Glover co-owner of Harbour Technologies was a featured speaker along with Simon Drexler from Samuel Automation, Rob Wildeboer from Martinrea International Inc, Dawn Desjardins from Deloitte Canada and Vincent Caron from Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.

Robert gave an overview:

It was a very interesting discussion on what the effects would be if the total amount of tariffs came into play… and it is not a pretty picture.

Much discussion took place about why people think Trump is targeting Canada, along with the fact that this is a long-overdue wake-up call for our country, which has become much too dependent on the U.S. for many things outside of trade.

It was mentioned that the U.S. administration views Canada as being too soft on crime and having weak border security, which is a major problem for them, but they believe this is just one of the irritants they have with Canada.

It was also mentioned that we came within two hours of shutting down North American automobile production last month and that we are starting to hear that perhaps the thought of this (and other major implications) may have weighed heavily on the tariff postponement.

All in all, an interesting conversation. Let’s see what happens in the weeks ahead”