Thank you. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the standing committee and other witnesses.
My name is Shane Wark and I am assistant to Unifor national president Jerry Dias. My responsibilities include oversight of negotiations for Unifor's 40,000 members working at the Detroit three and independent auto parts facilities. Joining me today is Unifor's director of research, Angelo DiCaro. Angelo oversees the union's work on the auto sector and trade policy. We thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
Unifor appreciates the committee's undertaking of this study on how certain U.S. build back better policy proposals will harm the Canadian auto industry—notably, the proposed EV vehicle rebate that applies exclusively to vehicles assembled in America.
I started working at Ford Motor Company in Windsor in 1994. Having been involved in the auto industry for more than 25 years, I can tell you that what drives production and investment into Canadian assembly plants is our ability to sell into the U.S. market. U.S. showrooms are the final destination for roughly 90% of passenger vehicles assembled in Canada. It makes sense. The U.S. market is significantly larger than Canada's. For example, in 2019, the U.S. sold 17 million new cars. Canada, by comparison, sold approximately two million new vehicles.
A subsidy of $12,500 to purchase only U.S.-built electric vehicles—which amounts to a subsidy of 22% for an average electric vehicle—not only cuts Canada out of the most important market but creates a strong disincentive to invest in Canadian electric vehicle production. As Canada is set to ramp up EV production in the coming years and seeks further investments to secure and grow our production footprint, this U.S. proposal comes at the worst time.
The challenge is that there is a lot to like about what the U.S. is trying to do. Getting more EVs on the road will require government support and purchasing incentives. The U.S. is clearly setting an ambitious benchmark. Ensuring that these subsidies help grow good, unionized auto sector jobs is an effort to support workers' fundamental rights. The trouble starts when Canada, the United States' number one auto trading partner, is treated as an afterthought. Resolving this matter is critical to our industry-building efforts.
We thank the federal government for its support so far, but there is still lots of work to do. The congressional bill has stalled, but we fear that a new bill will surface. Finding a permanent and durable solution is critical as we look for solutions to sustain work at, for example, the Brampton Stellantis assembly plant—a 3,000-worker plant that supports thousands of regional jobs, but according to various auto analysts, has no product allocation as of 2023.
It is also critical as our union begins preparations for the next round of Detroit Three negotiations starting in the summer of next year. You can expect that EV investment will once again be a key topic of discussion.
The federal government has to continue making the case at all levels of government for a Canadian carve-in to any U.S. rebate. At the very least, the federal government must present assurances to auto workers that any U.S. action is balanced by equivalent support for our own domestic investment.
Canada is on the cusp of something very special. We are positioning ourselves as a powerhouse nation for the future of auto manufacturing—at all stages of the supply chain, from the mining and processing of critical minerals to battery and component part production to final vehicle assembly. A stronger domestic supply chain will provide us greater leverage when dealing with isolationist trading partners like the U.S. now and in future.
Unifor is not celebrating the demise of President Biden's build back better program. In fact, the derailment of a nearly two-trillion-dollar economic growth package for our largest trading partner is bad news for Canada. But to ensure Canada doesn't get caught in the crosshairs, we need a proper industrial strategy, one that buffers us against trade threats and is built to support good jobs.
Thank you again for this opportunity. I look forward to taking your questions.