Given the United States President Donald Trump's intense focus on the auto sector, it's worth reminding that Canada is in fact now a large net importer of motor vehicles, said Bank of Montreal (BMO).

In 2024, Canada bought just over 1.9 million autos and trucks, a bit below the 2.1 million peak hit in 2017. Meantime, vehicle assemblies slipped a bit below 1.4 million, less than half the record high of three million hit way back in 1999.

As a consequence, Canada imported 540,000 more units than it produced last year and has been a net importer since 2018, after long being a net exporter, noted the bank.

Far from "stealing" the U.S. auto industry, Canada has seen its North American share and overall production steadily decline over the past 25 years, stated BMO.

Looking very far back, Canada had produced domestically for its own needs and then began to specialize in specific lines after the Auto Pact was reached in 1965, added the bank.

If a U.S. tariff wall is built, could Canada go back to producing some vehicles just for the domestic market, asked BMO.