OTTAWA, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday that his government will invest C$4.7 billion ($3.41 billion) to build and maintain VIA Rail passenger cars in Canada, marking the first time in four decades that the rail company’s cars will be built domestically.
“For the first time in four decades, VIA’s passenger cars will be produced and assembled in Canada. Cars that used to be built in the United States will be built right here in Thunder Bay at Alstom Canada,” Carney said at a news conference in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Carney said the investment would build 313 new-generation passenger cars and support nearly 700 jobs in Ontario and Quebec.
The announcement comes amid a worsening trade war with the U.S. Canadian retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of U.S. annual imports are set to come into effect on September 8, in response to tariffs levied against Canada last month by U.S. President Donald Trump, affecting $20 billion of Canadian imports.
Carney said his government was ready to sit down and strike a trade deal with the U.S. when Washington is ready, but “there must be stability and credibility” in any such agreement.
($1 = 1.3801 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Maria Cheng and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Mark Porter and Andrea Ricci )