Ottawa says automakers that keep building in Canada will get a tariff exemption

WASHINGTON — Automobile companies that continue to manufacture vehicles in Canada will get an exemption from Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs as U.S. President Donald Trump attempts to upend the North American industry through steep import duties. Federal Finance Minister Franà§ois-Philippe Champagne announced Tuesday that auto manufacturers will be allowed to import a certain number of U.S.-assembled vehicles — ones that comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade — free of the countermeasure tariffs Ottawa imposed in response to Trump’s levies. The number of tariff-free vehicles a company is permitted to import will drop if there are reductions in Canadian production or…