Toronto/CMEDIA: In his call today with US President Donald Trump, Canada PM Mark Carney informed Trump that following the announcement of additional U.S. trade actions on April 2, 2025, his government will implement retaliatory tariffs to protect Canadian workers and their economy.
Canada faces an “economic war” with the US following the rollout of a 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles that would steal Canada’s jobs ,the head of a union that represents more than 20,000 Canadian auto workers has reportedly said.
Trump’s new tariffs effective April 3 would not only have devastating consequences on the North American auto industry but could even stop production by assembly lines .
Over 100,000 Ontarians are employed in the auto assembly and parts manufacturing sectors including over 3,000 employees who work at a General Motors (GM) assembly plant in Oshawa.
“We have to work with them and make sure we do everything in our powers to keep these plants moving,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford was reported saying.
An emergency meeting was convened by the Unifor Local 222 representing over 200 of those workers with other union representatives to discuss its response to the tariffs.
“President Trump fails to understand the chaos and damage this tariff will inflict on workers and consumers in both Canada and the United States,” Unifor national president Lana Payne has said in a written statement.
A stage rally outside the GM assembly plant was also being planned by Workers to draw attention to their concerns,
US President Trump has said that the tariffs are designed to get auto manufacturers to relocate their plants to the U.S. However, GM and other manufacturers have not signaled any intentions to scale back their Canadian operations at this point.
Calling the tariffs “a hammer blow” for the automotive industry, Bank of Montreal (BMO) senior economist Erik Johnson reported saying that there’s not much doubt layoffs are coming.
“The North American auto sector is likely to face severe disruption if these tariffs remain in place for the foreseeable future,” said Johnson in a research note. “Production curtailments could begin soon after April 2 and furloughs and layoffs are likely to follow.”
Johnson also said, Canada’s economy will take a bigger hit than the U.S.
