‘This is a full-on trade war:’ Unifor president
Consumers on both sides of border will be hurt by U.S. metal tariffs, Dias says
Windsor residents could soon be paying more for everything from whisky and sleeping bags to lawn mowers — and automotive sales could plummet — because of an escalating trade war with the United States that began when President Donald Trump slapped steep tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
The Canadian government responded with a raft of retaliatory measures worth up to $16.6 billion targeting steel and more than 80 other disparate products in a bid to pressure politicians in key U.S. states to lobby Trump to reverse his stance, which could negatively affect the automotive industry and cost the Canadian economy billions of dollars.
Flavio Volpe, head of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, said Trump’s tariffs — which he blasted as “dumb politics” — would increase the cost of vehicle production over the longterm as the cost of raw materials rise. That would increase the consumer cost of vehicles, leading to reduced sales, diminished production and fewer automotive jobs. “Everybody in the Great Lakes region is going to buy fewer cars,” said Volpe. “It will affect jobs on both sides of the border. That’s why it’s so nonsensical.”
In the short term, he added, Trump has simply raised the price of steel for U.S. manufacturers, who are heavily reliant on imported Canadian steel.
Bill Anderson, director of the Cross-Border Institute at the University of Windsor, agreed the tariffs would increase the cost of manufacturing products reliant on steel, including vehicles, and said those costs would ultimately be borne by the consumer.
“Any industrial region is going to suffer from that,” said Anderson. “We make a lot of things that are made out of steel and those costs are going to find their way through the production chain.” Brian Hogan of the Windsor and District Labour Council said parts companies and tool and die shops might have no choice but to scale back and lay off workers. “They’re going to get squeezed by Trump,” said Hogan. Anderson said Trump’s focus on Canadian steel ignored the reality that the existing trading relationship was balanced and a benefit to both countries, allowing companies to achieve efficiencies by specializing on specific products. “If you’re really trying to preserve jobs, I don’t see how this makes sense” he said. Unifor National president Jerry Dias said he “fully supports” the aggressive response of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government announced plans to hit U.S. steel items with a 25 per cent tariff and a range of consumer goods, from playing cards to boats and toilet paper, with a 10 per cent tariff beginning July 1.
“The U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs will impact everything from beer cans to cars, with consumers and workers on both sides of the border paying the price,” said Dias. “Make no mistake — this is a fullon trade war. The U.S. has systematically come after Canada’s aerospace, softwood, paper and now steel and aluminum industries.” Hogan said Trudeau should have implemented the tariffs immediately and Anderson called it “an event of historic significance” because it marks the strongest trade action taken by Canada in the postwar era. Both scoffed at Trump’s rationale that he enacted the tariffs for national security reasons. “We’re not a security threat and we’re not competition so much as an integrated economic partner in steel,” said Anderson. Anderson said it would be “extraordinarily unfortunate” if these opening salvos turned into “a much broader trade war” and warned Canadians would “immediately” feel an impact if Trump countered by slapping tariffs on consumer goods manufactured in Canada. Volpe’s organization is hosting a one-day conference Wednesday in Windsor, where up to 600 industry movers and shakers are expected. The theme this year is the modernization of the industry, and it’s a shame, Volpe said, that participants will now also be talking about how to respond to the “protectionism of the 1920s and 1930s.”