Union representing Cami workers keeping close watch on looming trade battle with Trump

Union officials at CAMI say thousands of jobs could be affected if tariffs are implemented. CTV London’s Bryan Bicknell explains.

The union representing workers at one of the region’s largest automotive manufacturing plants says a looming trade war with the United States would impact jobs on both sides of the border.

“It is a Canadian manufactured vehicle but there’s thousands of American parts,” explained Mike Van Boekel. Van Boekel is the plant chair for Unifor Local 88 in Ingersoll, representing 1,500 workers at the Cami Bright Drop electric vehicle manufacturing plant.

He said southern Ontario’s auto industry would take a major hit if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump makes good on a threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs across the board on Canadian exports. But he added the move would be counter-productive for industries on both sides of the border.

“I think what Trump has to realize is a lot of American jobs are tied to it. Our plant brings in basically hundreds of parts, thousands of parts to build our trucks. A lot from the U.S. So if he did shut us down, he would be hurting himself too. There’s a lot of U.S. jobs that hang in the balance as well,” said Van Boekel.

Van Boekel also pointed out that the plant’s delivery van customer base stretches across both sides of the border – relationships that would be complicated by economic sanctions imposed by Trump.

“A lot of them are both. Walmarts are both sides of the border. DHL are both sides of the border. So, Purolator is both sides of the border. We hopefully can supply both countries. The mail, U.S. mail, Canadian mail, the mail service,” explained Van Boekel.

If the flow of automotive parts across the border slows down, so too will the transports hauling those parts. Experts in trucking say their industry would be the first to feel the impact in a trade war.

“That’s my experience, normally when trucking slows down, you know there’s something coming down the pipe. Because when the stores stop ordering, what’s going to happen is trucking orders going to slow down,” explained Gus Rahim, the president of Ontario Truck Driving school in London, Ont.

According to the Ontario Trucking Association, Ontario-U.S. trade is valued at more than $450 billion per year, with over 70 per cent transported by the trucking industry.