Trump's Next Auto Target: Canada?

President-elect Donald Trump hasn't shied away from warning Detroit's automakers to manufacturer their cars in the U.S. or pay a large border tax.

Trump then targeted German and Japanese automakers. Is Canada next?

According to a Bloomberg report, Windsor, Ontario, is home to nearly 6,000 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV FCAU workers and thousands more working for General Motors Company GM and Toyota Motor Corp (ADR) TM.

All told, Ontario boasts 27,000 auto workers which implies almost one assembly worker for every five in the U.S.

In fact, the U.S. trade gap with Canada is even larger than the trade imbalance with Mexico at $28.6 billion in the first 11 months of 2016 compared to just $18.3 billion.

If Trump is paying particularly close attention to this dynamic, he certainly won't like what he sees - and a Twitter attack could be forthcoming.

The problem for Canada is that businesses, especially in Ontario, are struggling with rising energy costs - and the exodus of factories out of Canada is underway with or without an attack from Trump's Twitter account.

For example, a Toronto-based manufacturer of fasteners, Leland Industries, said in December 2016 it's opening a new manufacturing facility in the U.S. because the rising energy costs in Ontario makes it un-competitive in the global stage.

"We've prided ourselves that a Canadian manufacturer with the right people, processes, and technologies, can compete with anyone in the world," the company's CEO Byron Nelson said. "But, we can no longer compete with the escalating energy costs we are seeing here in Ontario."

With a looming carbon tax, it's possible American automakers operating in Canada won't need to think twice about coming back home.