A sweeping new U.S. tariff on imported vehicles is drawing fierce criticism from Canada’s largest private-sector union, which says the move threatens thousands of Canadian auto jobs and violates trade agreements.
The 25 per cent tariff, announced by former U.S. president Donald Trump, is set to take effect April 2 and will apply to all vehicles manufactured outside the United States—including those made in Canada.
“Donald Trump has convinced himself that, somehow, the jobs of Canadian autoworkers are his to claim,” said Unifor national president Lana Payne in a statement Wednesday evening. “These are not his jobs to take.”
Unifor said the decision ignores the highly integrated nature of the North American auto sector, where supply chains between Canada and the U.S. are tightly linked and trade in the automotive industry is nearly balanced between the two countries.
“President Trump fails to understand the chaos and damage this tariff will inflict on workers and consumers in both Canada and the United States,” said Payne.
Under the proposed measure, tariffs will be applied to the value of non-U.S. content in completed vehicles—a move Unifor said breaches both the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and side letters specific to the auto industry.
The new vehicle tariffs follow other trade measures implemented earlier this month, including a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum. Additional tariffs on goods such as energy, potash, lumber, pharmaceuticals, and microchips have been floated but are currently on hold, depending on compliance with CUSMA.
Unifor said the growing list of trade actions signals a fundamental shift in the Canada-U.S. economic relationship.
“We cannot expect our trade relationship with the U.S. to ever go back to the way it was,” said Payne. “We must forge a new economy that creates and supports Canadian jobs.”
The union is calling on Canadian policymakers to develop a national strategy to shield workers from economic fallout and secure domestic manufacturing.
