Toyota’s long-rumored compact pickup has been in the realm of discussion for awhile now with the smaller pickup potentially giving the bigger Tacoma some back up in dealerships.

While a recent wave of teasers turned out to be an all-electric version of the Highlander SUV, a new report suggests the fate of the project itself could depend on upcoming actions from President Trump.

President Trump could affect progress of new model

According to a new interview Toyota Motor North America COO Mark Templin did with Auto News, The company is only gonna release such a model when it feels the time is right. “We invented the compact truck,” Templin said during a recent appearance at the J.D. Power Auto Summit in Las Vegas, as quoted by Auto News. “It’s a really intriguing segment for us, but the whole segment right now is 160,000 to 170,000.” That’s a small pool by industry standards. He urged both dealers and customers to “be patient,” adding that “when the market’s right, we may have something.

This statement appears to suggest the company is watching the actions of President Trump very closely especially when it comes to affordability due to the president’s aggressive stance when it comes to tariffs. These beefed-up fees along with other affordability challenges have put the auto industry into a tight spot. It appears Toyota is also concerned about the future of the United States – Mexico – Canada trade agreement. This agreement has been repeatedly criticized by the president in prior remarks and some have suggested the agreement itself is in danger of collapse.

“We need to encourage the administration in Washington to really take USMCA seriously. Consumers lose if USMCA goes bad,” Templin said. “I think that hopefully we can come to a place where we can keep the supply chain that’s been developed over years and years,” adding that consumers can’t afford the tariffs that could come if this pivotal agreement is scrapped this year.

Baby pickup could miss out on its mission

In an alternate universe where Toyota’s baby pickup made production, the compact pickup could end up completely missing the core point if the USMCA deal collapses. This would come in the form of the loss of the existing supply chain which would deprive Toyota an easy avenue for parts.

This would also cause the price to go up and it would potentially push the truck out of the reach of buyers thus making it very hard to justify the expense and effort of producing the truck in the first place.