TORONTO— U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest executive order to phase in new tariffs on auto parts is part of a continued attack on Canada’s auto sector and the tens of thousands of workers it supports.

“Trump’s move to tweak his auto tariff plan is nothing but window dressing — it changes nothing for Canadian workers,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “Canada is not the problem and never has been. This is a deliberate strategy by the U.S. to siphon investment out of Canada and steal our jobs. It’s unacceptable — and we will not stand by while our industry is undermined.”

Canada and the U.S. maintain a nearly balanced automotive trade, while the U.S. imports approximately 3.5 million vehicles each year from outside North America, primarily from Japan, South Korea, and Germany.

Rather than ending the unjust tariffs on Canadian goods, the Trump administration has concocted a temporary and convoluted tariff offset scheme designed to shield U.S. plants while continuing to treat Canada as a trade enemy. This stopgap measure may prevent an immediate collapse of U.S. auto production but still delivers a crushing blow to Canada’s tightly linked supply chain.

Unifor has long warned that disrupting the deeply integrated Canada-U.S. auto sector will trigger production stoppages within days, with devastating consequences on both sides of the border.

“It’s absolutely critical that our newly elected federal government acts with urgency — not only to protect Canadian autoworkers today but to secure the future of our industry,” Payne added. “If automakers want to sell vehicles in Canada, they must be required to build here too.”

Canadians purchase around two million vehicles each year, surpassing the country’s total domestic vehicle production.

In this revised tariff scheme on auto parts, the U.S. excludes Canadian and Mexican-made components that comply with origin rules under the CUSMA trade agreement but continues to apply 25% tariffs on Canadian parts (whether those parts are CUSMA-compliant or not) in Canadian-assembled vehicles.

“This partial tariff patchwork is reckless. The Canadian and U.S. auto industry is built on seamless cross-border trade and any disruption breeds instability, strains manufacturers financially, and puts people out of work,” said Payne. “We need action — not just words — to defend Canadian jobs and keep our industry strong.”

On April 28, Canadians observe the National Day of Mourning to honour workers who have lost their lives, been injured, or become ill due to workplace incidents. This day is a reminder of the importance of prioritizing health and safety in every workplace. It encourages reflection, remembrance, and engagement on our shared commitment to preventing future tragedies by creating safer working environments for all.

More than 1,000 workers die each year in Canada due to workplace injuries and occupational diseases. However, the true toll is far greater. Many incidents go unreported or are not acknowledged by compensation systems, leaving countless cases of work-related harm invisible and unaddressed.

Prevention starts in the workplace with empowered joint health and safety committees and worker representatives, committed employers, and competent supervisors.

Governments must also take stronger action through improved regulation and enforcement to ensure safe, healthy working conditions for all.

To date in 2025, Unifor mourns the loss of brother Peter Lecerf, 54, a DHL Alberta owner-operator, who tragically passed away following a motor vehicle accident on the job in Cochrane, Alberta. He succumbed to his injuries on January 10, 2025.

In addition, there have been other heartbreaking losses reported this year, including workplace deaths linked to personal medical events and accepted compensation claims related to occupational diseases.

Unifor honours the memory of all those we’ve lost by reaffirming our unwavering commitment to improving workplace health and safety. This means holding employers, regulators, and decision-makers accountable and ensuring that safety is not just a priority on paper, but a lived reality across every sector and in every workplace, from executive offices to job sites.

Unifor activists are driving real change, challenging the status quo to strengthen protections, enhance programs, and shift workplace priorities toward greater safety and well-being. This work is often met with resistance from employers who prioritize profits over people, but it is essential. Health and safety advocacy is not a side issue—it is core to our mission as a union and the foundation of protecting every worker.

Wherever you work in Canada, let’s take a moment to reflect and take one meaningful action to make our workplace safer today and into the future. From elevating training standards and proactively identifying hazards to offering support for mental health, together we can reduce workplace injuries and fatalities.

OTTAWA — Canada’s largest public and private sector unions stand united against attacks on Canadian workers initiated by the United States Administration’s escalating trade and investment war.

Unifor and Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), together representing more than one million workers in Canada, stand in solidarity and are committed to building a stronger, more resilient economy. Our organizations will work collaboratively, and in common purpose, responding to the existential challenges facing Canada. We believe in the power of collective action, and together, we will ensure that workers emerge from this crisis stronger and more prosperous than ever before.

We are united in our calls to protect and create Canadian jobs as we build a strong, sustainable, and resilient economy built by and for workers. We call on all levels of government to stand up for Canadian workers in these extremely challenging economic times.

Navigating the U.S.’s unjustified trade war against Canada means we must reject the failed economic policies of the past – policies that enable low wages, job cuts, factory closures, and the privatization of services that hurt working families. Governments that deprioritize the concerns of workers and that, putting profits and corporate interests ahead of the best interests of families, and communities will be aggressively challenged by our unions.

CUPE and Unifor have developed solutions to support workers and the national economy in these turbulent times and chart a path for good jobs in both the public and private sectors for generations to come.

Together, we call on the Federal government to:

•    Develop a Robust Made-in-Canada Procurement Strategy: Municipal, provincial, and federal governments must work together to implement procurement strategies that prioritize Canadian-made products and services, bolstering our domestic industries and creating good jobs.

•    Deliver Strong Supports to Workers: The Federal government must prioritize workplace supports in the midst of a U.S. trade war, to continue operations and ensure workers remain on payrolls, while also expanding Employment Insurance to meet the needs of workers facing joblessness.

•    Strengthen the Transportation Sector: Years of privatization and under-investment have left passengers and workers vulnerable, highlighting the urgent need for public investment in air and rail travel, as well as transit, to ensure reliable services and good jobs.

•    Supporting and Expanding Public Services: Public services are desperately needed during an economic downturn. High quality, publicly-owned and adequately funded post-secondary education, child care, youth employment programs and social services will support the creation of jobs locally while ensuring people can access the supports they need. Canada has the foundations for strong public health care, which now includes the blueprint of expanded pharmacare and dental care – which should continue into the future.

•    Supporting Investment in Public Infrastructure: Privatization of public infrastructure cannot be a part of any response to the current climate. All levels of government must work together to invest in expanding public infrastructure in our communities and across the country.

•    Support Canadian Media and Telecommunications: We must protect Canadian media services and independent journalism by preserving and growing the workforce, as well as fostering a strong, affordable and Canadian-based telecommunications sector by putting an end to outsourcing.

•    Regulate Inter-provincial Trade: While careful examination of ways to expand East, West, and Northern trade can foster economic sovereignty, it is crucial that these changes support equitable wealth creation across all provinces and territories. Eliminating inter-provincial trade regulations is not a cure-all for safeguarding Canadian jobs and prosperity. We must guard against changes that weaken workers’ rights, including health and safety and union rights, and we must protect public ownership of infrastructure and public delivery of services.

Our members will stand together – across the public and private sectors – to advance solutions that will protect all workers. Our collective vision includes ensuring that both public and private sector workers have the secure jobs and fair wages they deserve, while fostering an economy that benefits all Canadians.

Unifor represents 320,000 members across Canada working primarily in auto, aerospace, manufacturing, media and telecommunications, forestry, energy, mining, and transportation including rail, transit, road and aviation.

CUPE is Canada’s largest union representing more than 750,000 members working in airlines, child care, communications, education, emergency services, energy, health care, libraries, municipalities, post-secondary, social services, and transportation.