‘Ripple effects’: Windsor braces for fallout from Trump’s auto tariffs

The fear and frustration inside Windsor’s auto plants is spreading — not just along the assembly lines, but out into the community.

“We’re pissed, and not for a minute, we’re going to allow this to happen,” said John D’Agnolo, President of Unifor Local 200.

The union leader says auto workers across Windsor-Essex are feeling the pressure following U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest move — an executive order that would impose new tariffs on foreign-made vehicles and auto parts.

But it’s not just workers on the line who stand to lose if the industry slows down.

“If anybody feels that at this time they are not going to be impacted — from the dentist office to the grocery store and everywhere in the community — they are wrong,” said Emile Nabbout, President of Unifor Local 195.

“This is going to impact the entire community and impact every single person in this community.”

Uncertainty already taking a toll

The new tariffs — ranging from 2.5 to 25 per cent — have yet to take effect, and no details have been released about how they’ll be applied.

But many in Windsor say the damage is already beginning.

“When you have unrest, you don’t buy anything,” said D’Agnolo.

“And it’s already impacting our community. When you don’t have stability, it affects your plans.”

Workers at the Windsor Assembly Plant say those feelings are being felt loud and clear on the shop floor.

“I’m a little bit worried,” said Vito Taranto. “I do have a family. I have a wife and a son that I support.”

He says his job at Chrysler has given him stability — a job he calls one of the best-paying in Windsor — but now he fears for what happens next.

“You know, he can put a lot of people out of jobs — a few million people out of jobs,” Taranto said of Trump. “We have a lot of jobs at stake. A lot of feeder plants supply us and other auto plants around Ontario. And this doesn’t just go for us — it goes for other industries.”

And with those jobs come the spending power of thousands of Windsor families — buying groceries, paying mortgages, supporting local shops.

D’Agnolo says it doesn’t take long for a disruption in the industry to hit those businesses.

“It would decimate this community,” he said. “And I never want to see that again. Breaks our heart.”

Taranto says Canada needs a response plan — fast — to cushion the blow if the tariffs do land.

Until then, uncertainty is building.

“We’ll see what happens in the next few days,” he said.

“It might happen, it might not, but I know Canada needs a plan.”

His colleague, Daniel Ricart, says there are already whispers at the plant about potential layoffs, though nothing official has been communicated.

“So far, just talk,” Ricart said. “There’s nothing concrete for us in the plant.”

Memories of past hardship linger

That kind of instability, D’Agnolo warns, can have real consequences.

“You’re thinking about, ‘Oh my God. Will I have a job?‘” he said. “And your focus isn’t on the quality of the part you’re building. Health and safety. These are the things that you don’t talk about, but that’s the type of stuff that’s happening.”

He says the community has been here before during the 2008 recession, and can’t afford to go back.

“We’ve seen houses lost and we’ve seen keys dropped off at the bank,” D’Agnolo said. “And we don’t want to see that again.”

As the industry waits to learn when and how the tariffs might take effect, the message from Windsor is clear: anxiety is rising, and the impacts could be widespread.

“This is where we have to come together as Canadians, protect one another,” said D’Agnolo. “And all our jobs across the country.”