Windsor’s auto sector ‘confused’ by Trump’s latest tariff threat

Windsor’s auto sector ‘confused’ by Trump’s latest tariff threat. CTV News Windsor's Robert Lothian explains.

Tariffs announced on automobile imports into the United States have left union representatives in Canada’s automotive capital in a state of confusion.

John D’Agnolo, President of Unifor Local 200 representing nearly 2000 Ford employees, said the latest pressure on the auto industry came without much explanation.

“It devastates me, so I’m confused, but at the same time, he’s hurting the companies at the end of the day,” D’Agnolo told CTV News on Wednesday afternoon.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose 25 per cent tariffs on vehicles made outside the country as of April 2.

However, an integrated auto industry has those on the factory floor unsure how this will impact their production.

In the case of Ford, D’Agnolo said a Ford Super Duty engine is assembled in Windsor, but it’s transported across the border, where the vehicle is finished on an assembly line stateside.

“All the cars, the trucks are built in the U.S. Does that mean it’s American? I’m not sure,” he said.

D’Agnolo said auto tariffs of any kind will deal a devastating blow to the industry.

Vehicles are Canada’s second most lucrative export worth $51 billion in 2023, according to the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association. Of those exports, 93 per cent were shipped to the U.S.

The latest version of Trump’s tariffs creates another layer of uncertainty for auto workers whose livelihoods are at stake.

“People aren’t going to buy anything when you don’t know what your next paycheck is going to be, it’s going to slow down the economy,” D’Agnolo said.

Auto manufacturing is responsible for about 128,000 Canadian jobs, but the industry employs about 550,000 people across the nation.

Tariffs, particularly those on the auto industry, are expected to wreak havoc on Windsor’s economy.

“It would destroy us, no doubt in my mind,” he said.

“Just our Stellantis plan alone, if that went away, that would dramatically kill us because if that goes away now, the battery power plant [will], the snowball effect.”

As part of Wednesday’s announcement, Trump repeated calls for auto manufacturers to move operations stateside to avoid tariffs.

While the process would take years, if not decades, D’Agnolo said collective and trade agreements would prevent any attempts to do so.

“So we’ve got an agreement with the company and that agreement’s staying, so I don’t know even know how they would move it. They can’t.”

“No different than the UAW, we’re the Unifor, we’re not allowing them to come in and take our stuff. That’s absurd.”

In the coming days, D’Agnolo said they hope to learn more about Trump’s latest tariffs. In the meantime, he said they will continue lobbying for all parties to understand what’s at stake.