About 6,000 Canada auto workers idled on first day of US tariffs

OTTAWA – About 6,000 workers in Canada’s auto sector received temporary layoff notices after US President Donald Trump went ahead with tariffs on vehicle imports, according to the country’s largest private-sector union.

Unifor, which represents around 320,000 workers across Canada, said some of its members received the notices starting on the night of April 2. The majority of them work at a Stellantis plant in Ontario that makes Chrysler and Dodge vehicles, which will pause production for two weeks beginning on April 7.

“With the new automotive sector tariffs now in effect, it will take our collective resilience and discipline to push through this challenging time,” Mr Antonio Filosa, Stellantis’ chief operating officer for the Americas, said in a memo to employees that outlined a number of short-term production changes. 

The new layoffs also include Unifor-represented workers elsewhere in Ontario’s auto-parts supply chain, union communications director Kathleen O’Keefe said in a text message. 

The moves are part of the immediate fallout from US tariffs on the North American auto sector, which took effect shortly after midnight on April 3.

The levies are expected to upend supply chains while adding thousands of dollars in costs to most vehicle models if they remain in place.

Canada responded with plans to impose a 25 per cent retaliatory duty on some US-made vehicles, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on April 3.

The tariff will be lower for cars that include Canadian parts and are shipped under the terms of the US-Mexico-Canada agreement that Mr Trump signed in his first term in office. BLOOMBERG