Union president says auto industry tariffs will be felt across Canada

Unifor president Lana Payne discusses the impacts of tariffs on Canadian auto industry.

The trade war with the United States entered a new phase for many countries Wednesday when U.S. President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal tariffs” on imports from close to 90 countries.

In Canada, the 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum places those commodities among the hardest hit, but Canada’s automotive sector is reeling with uncertainty amid changes to trade.

Lana Payne is the president of Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union representing workers in the auto industry. She said her members are on the “front lines of this trade war” because the auto sector has been in the crosshairs of Trump.

“This isn’t the end of it,” Payne said in an interview with CTV’s Todd Battis. “It’s just the start of the targets that this administration has on Canadian workers and Canadian jobs.”

Statistics Canada said Friday the country lost 33,000 jobs in March. Approximately 6,000 auto sector workers were laid off in early April, temporarily closing the Stellantis assembly plant in Windsor, Ont.

Payne said it’s a concerning trend.

“What we’re seeing is a very large auto maker who took swift action,” she said.

“What we saw as a result of that decision is also American workers receiving temporary layoff notices because they feed this assembly plant.”

Since Trump’s tariff threats began in January, Payne said a lot of investment decisions have been shelved while hundreds of companies evaluate the impact.

“It’s very difficult to invest when you’re dealing with that kind of uncertainty and chaos and that’s showing up today in the job numbers.”

There is no auto industry in the Maritimes. Most of the manufacturing is concentrated in Ontario and Quebec but Payne said the effects will be felt across the country.

“It’s the core of the manufacturing sector in Canada,” Payne said. “We’ve heard it said before many times, the way the auto sector goes is the way the economy can go in Canada.”

Payne said a problem with any big economic sector in one part of the country is going to be felt nationwide.

“We also know this president is coming for other sectors,” Payne said.

To weather the storm and build a more resilient economy, Payne said Canadians have to support each other and become less dependent on the U.S.

Prime Minister Mark Carney adopted one Unifor recommendation this week when he said Canada’s retaliatory tariffs would be used to help the auto industry and its employees. Payne said there were also exemptions for companies that continue to build, produce and invest in Canada.

Thus far, Payne said auto manufacturers have committed to staying in the country.

To lower trade barriers between provinces, Payne said Canada should invest in infrastructure, including rail for transport, using the billions of dollars the country spends on procurement.

“We didn’t go looking for this trade war but now that we’re in it, let’s look at all of the ways we can be smarter going forward in terms of being a more resilient Canada.”

Payne said Trump has been putting pressure on the Canadian economy since January but last week he “declared economic war” on countries around the world.

“This is a very destructive policy that he has undertaken, and it could lead to a global recession,” Payne said. “We have to be very worried about this and the markets have been telling us exactly that.”