OTTAWA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday announced a fund to bolster the country's auto industry against the tariff imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, local media reported.

The liberal leader on his election campaign tour called a "strategic response fund" which is valued at 2 billion Canadian dollars (1.4 billion U.S. dollars), reported CBC News.

According to the report, Carney said the money would be used to boost the auto sector's competitiveness, protect manufacturing jobs, help workers gain expertise and build "a fortified Canadian supply chain."

Carney's announcement came hours before Trump announced plans for a 25-percent tariff on all vehicles not made in the United States as of April 2.

Auto parts often cross the border multiple times, and the added costs of tariffs and counter-tariffs would quickly snowball, said the report.

Carney called that a "huge vulnerability" and promised to build an "all-in-Canada" manufacturing network to build more car parts domestically, limiting how often they cross the border during production, said the report.

"In the new world, that will be an advantage," he was quoted as saying. "That will help insulate us from President Trump's trade threats and it will grow the economy."

If elected on April 28, Carney said his government would also prioritize and procure Canadian-built vehicles, reported CBC News. Enditem

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