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.”