Canadian automotive workers face uncertainty and fear of Trump prices

Donald Trump may have withdrawn from his radical tariff assault – but for Canada car workers, their problems are far from over.

On Wednesday, he announced a 90-day break for the wave of “reciprocal” prices, but maintained the 25% levy on imported vehicles that analysts have warned will devastate the North American automotive industry.

Canada, which exports the vast majority of its cars to the United States, has already seen factory breaks and temporary layoffs due to prices, and workers told Business Insider that they were preparing for additional chaos and disturbances.

Jeff Gray, a long -standing automotive worker and the president of the Local Union of Unifor in Oshawa, Ontario, described the atmosphere of the city’s general motorcycle factory as anxious, with the workers “preparing for the impact”.

“This affects morale. Our members come to work every day and work hard to bring a pay check to their family. They have to pay their mortgages, they have to pay their rent, their car payments and everything that arises,” he told Bi.

“Having this anxiety that everything that could be removed from us at any time, it has an impact,” said Gray.

GM did not immediately respond to a request for BI comments.

A worker of an Ontario factory led by F&P MFG, a supplier of Japanese car parts, told Bi that pricing uncertainty was already felt in its factory, which provides automotive parts in Honda, Stelllantis, GM and Tesla.

She said that the production of American companies like GM and Stellantis have decreased since Trump won the elections and that the factory had reduced the quarters of the weekend due to American production reductions.

“We are absolutely worried. It is similar to COVID. We know that reality is a day when we are entering work, we could be dismissed,” said the worker, whose partner also works in the automotive industry.

“We have a little savings that we were going to use for our honeymoon, but now we are saving this as a safeguard war,” she added.

F&P MFG did not immediately respond to a request for BI comments.

End of the “invisible border”

The prices have already shaken the Ontario automotive industry. The owner of Jeep and Ram, Stellantis, said last week that she was going to inactivate her production to her Windsor factory, Ontario and temporarily denounce 4,500 time workers.

Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford, on the other hand, warned last month that prices could lead to factory closings on both sides of the border.

Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association, said the prices “seriously disrupting” the Canadian supply chains that have been closely integrated into their southern neighbor for 60 years.

“Automobile companies have no certainty on commercial rules and what they can be,” said Kingston.

He added that “completely inconsistent” commercial barriers will have an extremely devastating “impact on the Canadian economy and, if they remain in place in the long term, can cause production and job losses in the United States and Canada.

“People are afraid and confused. There are afraid of job losses, time reductions and layoffs,” said F&P MFG worker, who asked to be kept anonymous because she was not allowed to speak to the press. Bi has verified its identity.

“Since Covid, many jobs have not returned to the way they were; the rise in prices and inflation has just made life difficult,” she added.

Gray said Oshawa automotive workers were surprised by the sudden taxation of prices by a country It has long been a close partner.

“I was surprised. Here in Canada, we are so used to having an almost invisible border between us and the United States,” he said.

“Honestly, I thought we had this friendship and this relationship with our American friends that it would never happen,” added Gray.

Canada has already pointed out that it was ready to retaliate against prices, and the wider suggestion of Trump that he could try to transform Canada into a 51st state. On Wednesday, the Canadian government imposed its own 25% tariff on certain vehicle exports from the United States.

Gray said that the initial shock and uncertainty had given way to a feeling of solidarity among the members of the union.

“There is a level of challenge. Our members are tired of being antagonized by Donald Trump,” he said.

“Everyone knows that we have won these jobs over 90 years. We are going to fight and do everything we have to do to make sure that these automotive jobs remain in Ontario,” added Gray.