On a day when U.S. President Donald Trump took aim at the vehicle manufacturing industry, Ontario autoworkers said it’s the latest wave in what’s been a storm of uncertainty and more proof the Canadian industry needs government support.
Late Wednesday, Trump said he’d signed an executive order that will impose a 25 per cent import tariff on vehicles not made in the United States. Although the full implications of the tariff weren’t immediately clear, he said the levy will kick in on April 2 and suggested it could start at a base rate of 2.5 per cent.
Trump’s statement came the same day Canadian Liberal Leader Mark Carney was in Windsor, Ont., one of the front lines of the tariff war, where he promised $2 billion in new supports for the domestic auto industry while campaigning for the April 28 federal election. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called Trump’s latest action a “full frontal attack on autoworkers.” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said tariffs are impacting workers on both sides of the border.
Trump’s political parrying has dealt another blow to an auto industry that’s had more than its share of ups, downs and shutdowns in recent years.
For Ontario autoworkers at GM’s CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, and others in the industry, the help can’t come soon enough.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty, and that creates a lot of fear,” said Bonita McCarthy, a CAMI plant employee since 2011 who now works as a union awareness trainer.
The plant retooled in 2022 so that it could start producing the new BrightDrop electric delivery vehicle.
While the move to the BrightDrop has kept the plant running, there have been occasional shutdowns for reasons including parts shortages and other supply chain issues.
“We haven’t worked a full year since COVID,” said McCarthy.
It really has an effect on our members — nobody can make any kind of commitments, purchase a house. A lot of people, not just in auto, are living paycheque to paycheque. – Brent Tree, Unifor Local 88 president
Kim Dionne, a former GM plant employee who now works as a union awareness trainer, is also frustrated by the U.S. move to impose tariffs, saying they’ll inflict damage on both sides of the border.
“The U.S. president … he’s made it clear he doesn’t want a Canadian auto industry, but we’ve been building cars in Canada for over 100 years,” she said. “These are our jobs.”
Dionne pointed out that vehicles and parts cross the border frequently as they go through various stages of assembly, and travel along a complex and integrated network that’s taken years to build.
She sees U.S. autoworkers as her colleagues, not as competitors.
“I feel like we work together,” she said. “We’re all employed by GM. It’s not like [Trump] can say, ‘We’re going to tariff the crap out of the Canadian auto industry’ and they’re going to open up shop [in the U.S.] tomorrow. That’s not going to happen. By the time those U.S. plants are ready for people to work in them, Trump is going to be out of office.”
Workers endure frequent work stoppages
Brent Tree is president of Unifor Local 88, which represents workers at the CAMI plant.
He said there’s a misconception that autoworkers all earn $70 or more an hour, but they have to put in years to make top wages and endure work stoppages that make financial planning a challenge.
“It really has an effect on our members — nobody can make any kind of commitments, purchase a house,” he said. “A lot of people, not just in auto, are living paycheque to paycheque.”
During a Day 4 campaign stop in Windsor, Ont., Liberal Leader Mark Carney announced that if he’s elected prime minister, a $2-billion ‘strategic response fund’ will be created to help workers affected by tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The fund would help create an all-Canadian network for automobile component manufacturing.
Dionne said she supports any measure, regardless of the politician putting it forward, than can bring support and stability to an industry facing an unprecedented threat in Trump.
“We need to invest in Canada and make sure that our suppliers can produce the parts that are needed here so that we can supply our own industry,” she said. “We’ve benefited from that, but now we see how quickly it can change. One person’s decision disrupts a whole industry.”
Tree said the supports Carney is offering make sense, but he’ll listen to ideas from any party that can help support an industry. The GM plant employs more than 1,300 workers.
“I really hope they’re talking about the industry and not just looking for my vote,” he said. “I never miss a vote but I hope they are listening to us.”
In a normal year, according to the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, about 80 per cent of vehicles made in Canada — almost all from Ontario — are exported to the U.S. It’s about $53 billion worth of exports.
