Canada’s trade minister can be in Detroit on Tuesday to talk with automakers concerning potential Canadian battery manufacturing and the controversial U.S. EV incentive proposed by President Joe Biden.

In a quick assertion issued late Monday, François-Philippe Champagne stated he’ll “meet with key automotive trade stakeholders and talk about alternatives within the Canadian automotive sector and the significance of extremely built-in North American provide chains.”

Champagne took to Twitter to elaborate

“We need to deliver the battery ecosystem right here in Canada,” he stated. “We need to speak in regards to the EV tax credit score.”

The Biden administration’s proposed tax credit score would give American EV patrons as a lot as US$12,500 for buying a U.S.-built EV, successfully elevating the price of Canadian-made automobiles offered south of the border.

An preliminary draft of the wide-ranging spending invoice that features the EV tax credit cleared the U.S. Home of Representatives Nov. 19 and is now earlier than the Senate.

Biden’s EV tax credit score proposal is contributing to uncertainty over the way forward for Stellantis’s meeting plant in Brampton, Ont. The automaker has not made a dedication to allocate product to the plant after 2024, in line with Unifor, the union that represents hourly employees on the manufacturing facility.

Unifor stated whereas Stellantis has made earlier commitments to the union on upcoming investments in Brampton, the proposed tax credit score has created “critical issues.”

The Brampton Meeting Plant presently builds the Chrysler 300, in addition to the Dodge Challenger and Charger. It employs almost 3,200 employees on two shifts, but the muscle automobiles’ impending shift to electrified platforms has raised doubts about what position the greater than 30-year-old plant will play sooner or later.

Unifor stated uncertainty across the U.S. EV tax credit score has put a “damper” on the choice course of.

With recordsdata from David Kennedy.