Canada loses jobs for first time in 3 years as US tariffs bite
By AFP
April 4, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed Canada will push back against US tariffs - Copyright AFP Brendan SMIALOWSKI
Employment in Canada fell for the first time in three years in March, the national statistical agency said Friday, as uncertainty over US tariffs led businesses to cut staff and stall hiring.
Canada shed some 33,000 net jobs in the month, pushing the unemployment rate up 0.1 percentage point to 6.7 percent, according to Statistics Canada.
“I know that a great many Canadians are worried,” Prime Minister and Liberal leader Mark Carney said Friday about the latest tariff announcements.
“The weeks and months to come will not be easy, but we will not abandon you. We will fight against these tariffs,” Carney said at a campaign event in Montreal ahead of national elections.
The March jobs decline was driven by losses among full-time workers, who had seen a “strong upward trend in the second half of 2024,” Statistics Canada said in a statement.
These losses were mostly in the private sector, particularly wholesale and retail, as well as information, culture and recreation.
Canada was largely spared from the sweeping global tariffs US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday, as Washington granted an exemption to goods compliant with the US-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement, which covers most products.
But on Thursday the two neighbors slapped tit-for-tat 25 percent tariffs on some vehicles crossing the border, coming after Washington imposed levies on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Washington last month also announced but then paused tariffs on most Canadian goods and energy imports into the United States, saying that was in response to illegal immigration and the deadly drug fentanyl coming into the United States.
Economists had expected the Canadian job market to start to slow in March as companies held back on investments and hiring, which surged in December 2024 and January, adding 211,000 net new jobs, before flatlining in February.
But they were surprised by the extent of the losses, with CIBC Economics analyst Andrew Grantham saying the consensus forecast had pointed to a gain of 10,000 net new jobs.
“The wheels may be starting to fall off the Canadian labor market,” he said in a research note.
However, he added, staffing levels “in areas expected to be the first (and) hardest hit by US tariffs were mixed, with transport and warehousing posting an increase while manufacturing employment fell modestly.”
TD senior economist James Orlando commented that “businesses and consumers are naturally hesitant in the face of heightened political uncertainty.”
“Today’s report reflects this,” he said, adding that Canadians who lose their jobs are also taking longer to find work.
By AFP
April 4, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed Canada will push back against US tariffs - Copyright AFP Brendan SMIALOWSKI
Employment in Canada fell for the first time in three years in March, the national statistical agency said Friday, as uncertainty over US tariffs led businesses to cut staff and stall hiring.
Canada shed some 33,000 net jobs in the month, pushing the unemployment rate up 0.1 percentage point to 6.7 percent, according to Statistics Canada.
“I know that a great many Canadians are worried,” Prime Minister and Liberal leader Mark Carney said Friday about the latest tariff announcements.
“The weeks and months to come will not be easy, but we will not abandon you. We will fight against these tariffs,” Carney said at a campaign event in Montreal ahead of national elections.
The March jobs decline was driven by losses among full-time workers, who had seen a “strong upward trend in the second half of 2024,” Statistics Canada said in a statement.
These losses were mostly in the private sector, particularly wholesale and retail, as well as information, culture and recreation.
Canada was largely spared from the sweeping global tariffs US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday, as Washington granted an exemption to goods compliant with the US-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement, which covers most products.
But on Thursday the two neighbors slapped tit-for-tat 25 percent tariffs on some vehicles crossing the border, coming after Washington imposed levies on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Washington last month also announced but then paused tariffs on most Canadian goods and energy imports into the United States, saying that was in response to illegal immigration and the deadly drug fentanyl coming into the United States.
Economists had expected the Canadian job market to start to slow in March as companies held back on investments and hiring, which surged in December 2024 and January, adding 211,000 net new jobs, before flatlining in February.
But they were surprised by the extent of the losses, with CIBC Economics analyst Andrew Grantham saying the consensus forecast had pointed to a gain of 10,000 net new jobs.
“The wheels may be starting to fall off the Canadian labor market,” he said in a research note.
However, he added, staffing levels “in areas expected to be the first (and) hardest hit by US tariffs were mixed, with transport and warehousing posting an increase while manufacturing employment fell modestly.”
TD senior economist James Orlando commented that “businesses and consumers are naturally hesitant in the face of heightened political uncertainty.”
“Today’s report reflects this,” he said, adding that Canadians who lose their jobs are also taking longer to find work.
By AFP
April 3, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced 25 percent tariffs on all vehicles imported from the United States that are not compliant with an existing North America free trade agreement - Copyright AFP OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE
Canada said it would impose a 25 percent tariff on some autos imported from the United States, retaliating against President Donald Trump’s levies that came into affect on Thursday.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced “25 percent tariffs on all vehicles imported from the United States that are not compliant with CUSMA,” using the Canadian acronym for an existing North America free trade agreement.
It was not immediately clear what percentage of US vehicle imports would be impacted.
Canada was largely spared from the sweeping global tariffs Trump announced Wednesday, as Washington granted an exemption to goods compliant with the US-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement, which covers most products.
But Canada, which is America’s largest trading partner, is still facing steel, aluminum and other products in addition to autos.
Carney said Trump’s trade war “will rupture the global economy.”
“The system of global trade anchored in the United States that Canada has relied on since the end of the Second World War… is over,” Carney said.
“The 80 year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect, championed the free and open exchange of goods and services is over,” Carney added, calling the development “a tragedy.”
Carney and Trump spoke by phone last week. They agreed Washington and Ottawa should negotiate the future of bilateral trade after Canada’s April 28 election.
Stellantis pausing some Canada, Mexico production over Trump auto tariffs
By AFP
Published April 3, 2025
Trucks cross the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Canada and Detroit, Michigan on April 2, 2025 - Copyright AFP JEFF KOWALSKY
Anne-Marie PROVOST
Auto giant Stellantis said Thursday it was pausing production at some plants in Canada and Mexico, the first disruptions to hit the sector since US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on foreign-made vehicles came into force.
The announcement from Stellantis — which owns Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge, among other major brands — impacts thousands of workers who have faced fear and uncertainty amid Trump’s efforts to force auto companies to make more vehicles in the United States.
“Stellantis continues to assess the effects of the recently announced US tariffs on imported vehicles,” a company statement said.
“Immediate actions we must take include temporarily pausing production at some of our Canadian and Mexican assembly plants,” it added.
Vehicle production in North America is highly integrated and the full impact of Trump’s 25 percent levy on foreign-made vehicles and parts, which came into effect on Thursday, remains unclear.
Individual parts can cross the US-Canada border several times during the assembly process.
Officials have said Trump’s tariffs will apply only to a vehicle’s non-American components, but implementing that policy may be complicated.
Stellantis said it would “continue to engage with the US administration” on its new auto sector policies.
The company confirmed the Chrysler plant in the Canadian city of Windsor, across a river from US auto capital Detroit, will pause production from April 7 to 21.
The factory, which employs around 4,000 people and is one of three Stellantis has in Canada, manufactures the Chrysler Pacifica minivan and the electric version of the Dodge Charger.
– ‘Everybody’s uncertain’ –
Windsor has been on edge since Trump first announced his plans for auto sector tariffs.
US auto companies have employed people in the city for more than a century and the industry is vital to the local economy.
Detroit and Windsor are connected by a suspension bridge and tunnel, with auto industry workers crossing back and forth daily.
Outside the Stellantis plant on Thursday, 58-year-old auto worker David Lumley told AFP Trump was making “a big mistake.”
“We’re all intertwined,” he said.
A two-week production pause was manageable, he said, but warned “we don’t know what’s going to happen after the two weeks,” raising concern Windsor’s auto industry could ultimately shut down.
“This Donald Trump, you don’t know what he’s going to do,” Lumley said.
Trump has publicly told auto companies that to avoid tariffs they need to build plants in the United States and employ American workers.
Industry experts note North American production chains have developed to maximize efficiency and unwinding those links to relocate jobs to the United States would take years, if not decades.
On a break outside the Windsor plant, Philip Sauve rejected Trump’s suggestion that he had taken a job that rightfully belongs to an American.
“I feel like these jobs have been ours for a long time and I don’t really feel like we’ve taken anything from them,” he told AFP.
He voiced hope Ottawa and Washington would reach a deal “that makes sense.”
Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke last week and agreed Washington and Ottawa should discuss the broader future of bilateral trade after Canada’s April 28 election.
“You feel nervous and you don’t know what the future’s going to be like,” Sauve said.
He told AFP his auto job “provided a good situation at home for my raised family. Food on the table and a house and a pretty good life so far and I would like to continue that.”
burs-bs/aha
Trump tariffs: The motives and potential consequences for the automotive sector
ByDr. Tim Sandle
April 2, 2025
Donald Trump warned he will impose 25 percent tariffs on imported cars - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP JUSTIN SULLIVAN
President Donald Trump has announced plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on imported passenger vehicles, light trucks, and parts such and engines and transmissions. With the tariffs set to start April 3rd, the tariffs stir questions about how the auto industry might respond and what consumers could expect.
Virginia Tech global finance expert David Bieri has considered the potential positive and negative effects of the tariffs for the auto industry, auto workers, and consumers, as well as the Trump administration’s motivation and risks inherent in the strategy.
David Bieri is an associate professor in the School of Public and International Affairs and an associate professor of economics. He also holds an appointment in the Global Forum on Urban and Regional Resilience.
What purposes do levying tariffs serve?
According to Bieri: “Let me take a step back — what I think is quite important in these things is two-fold. There’s a narrow view, which is that a tariff is a tax on a particular good, and they have distributional consequences that make certain things more expensive. The Trump administration’s vision is for the U.S. economy, which is a very large domestic economy, to be more insulated from the global economy. Tariffs are a very effective tool for doing this, but it will hurt some people — it is no mystery that consumers are most immediately the ones that will bear the cost.”
Moving to the political dimension, Bieri states: “The other element to this is that tariffs are also political instruments. We’ve seen Trump wield them this way, use them as a big stick in dynamic bilateral negotiations. This is where it’s a little tricky, because it makes things unpredictable. A lot of people did not anticipate the tariffs being so politically volatile.”
How can businesses cope with this volatility?
In terms of industrial strategy, Bieri advises: “In the case of this on-off, on-off, on-off status of tariffs, it does make pricing tricky, except for one redeeming factor, which is if the tariffs are strictly on finished goods, imported cars and light trucks, the manufacturers here in America themselves are not affected, because the higher prices on foreign cars will be borne by the consumers themselves,” Bieri said. “If it’s on unfinished goods, intermediary products that need to be imported from Mexico or other countries, that affects the bottom line. This is where the supply chain adjustments will have to come.”
How might consumers cope with higher prices?
Those likely to be affected the most are consumers. Already hard pushed economically, Bieri observes: “If you want a Volkswagen Golf and the price goes up, either you stick with it and you have the income to compensate for that price increase, or you switch to a different product. It’s called the substitution effect. That’s what we did during the pandemic. Many, many people, when luxury goods became very expensive, just switched out into more affordable, plain brands. In that sense, these tariffs can be good news for GM and Ford. It could be bad news, though, if overall demand declines because people are less willing to spend on cars.”
Does this strategy pose risks for the Trump administration?
There is the risk of the strategy blowing up in “A potential wrinkle is that the Trump administration, in the campaign leading up to the election, may have sold tariffs as something that will protect American workers, but the way they are currently structured, they will benefit shareholders more.”
He adds: “The automotive industry in America is a capital-intensive industry, with manufacturing largely automated. The labor share in the American car industry is increasingly small. Should these tariffs make GM and Ford more productive, the increase in shareholder value won’t necessarily translate immediately to higher wages.”
There is a further complication, according to Bieri: “Intriguingly, if the tariffs make automated manufacturing itself more expensive — for example, raising the prices of German-made robots and replacement parts used on the line — manufacturers will either have pay the increased price and take a hit on their profitability when repairs are needed, or they can hire two more workers and not use the robots. So, in the case of a tax on an intermediate product, it might actually benefit American workers”.
ByDr. Tim Sandle
April 2, 2025
Donald Trump warned he will impose 25 percent tariffs on imported cars - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP JUSTIN SULLIVAN
President Donald Trump has announced plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on imported passenger vehicles, light trucks, and parts such and engines and transmissions. With the tariffs set to start April 3rd, the tariffs stir questions about how the auto industry might respond and what consumers could expect.
Virginia Tech global finance expert David Bieri has considered the potential positive and negative effects of the tariffs for the auto industry, auto workers, and consumers, as well as the Trump administration’s motivation and risks inherent in the strategy.
David Bieri is an associate professor in the School of Public and International Affairs and an associate professor of economics. He also holds an appointment in the Global Forum on Urban and Regional Resilience.
What purposes do levying tariffs serve?
According to Bieri: “Let me take a step back — what I think is quite important in these things is two-fold. There’s a narrow view, which is that a tariff is a tax on a particular good, and they have distributional consequences that make certain things more expensive. The Trump administration’s vision is for the U.S. economy, which is a very large domestic economy, to be more insulated from the global economy. Tariffs are a very effective tool for doing this, but it will hurt some people — it is no mystery that consumers are most immediately the ones that will bear the cost.”
Moving to the political dimension, Bieri states: “The other element to this is that tariffs are also political instruments. We’ve seen Trump wield them this way, use them as a big stick in dynamic bilateral negotiations. This is where it’s a little tricky, because it makes things unpredictable. A lot of people did not anticipate the tariffs being so politically volatile.”
How can businesses cope with this volatility?
In terms of industrial strategy, Bieri advises: “In the case of this on-off, on-off, on-off status of tariffs, it does make pricing tricky, except for one redeeming factor, which is if the tariffs are strictly on finished goods, imported cars and light trucks, the manufacturers here in America themselves are not affected, because the higher prices on foreign cars will be borne by the consumers themselves,” Bieri said. “If it’s on unfinished goods, intermediary products that need to be imported from Mexico or other countries, that affects the bottom line. This is where the supply chain adjustments will have to come.”
How might consumers cope with higher prices?
Those likely to be affected the most are consumers. Already hard pushed economically, Bieri observes: “If you want a Volkswagen Golf and the price goes up, either you stick with it and you have the income to compensate for that price increase, or you switch to a different product. It’s called the substitution effect. That’s what we did during the pandemic. Many, many people, when luxury goods became very expensive, just switched out into more affordable, plain brands. In that sense, these tariffs can be good news for GM and Ford. It could be bad news, though, if overall demand declines because people are less willing to spend on cars.”
Does this strategy pose risks for the Trump administration?
There is the risk of the strategy blowing up in “A potential wrinkle is that the Trump administration, in the campaign leading up to the election, may have sold tariffs as something that will protect American workers, but the way they are currently structured, they will benefit shareholders more.”
He adds: “The automotive industry in America is a capital-intensive industry, with manufacturing largely automated. The labor share in the American car industry is increasingly small. Should these tariffs make GM and Ford more productive, the increase in shareholder value won’t necessarily translate immediately to higher wages.”
There is a further complication, according to Bieri: “Intriguingly, if the tariffs make automated manufacturing itself more expensive — for example, raising the prices of German-made robots and replacement parts used on the line — manufacturers will either have pay the increased price and take a hit on their profitability when repairs are needed, or they can hire two more workers and not use the robots. So, in the case of a tax on an intermediate product, it might actually benefit American workers”.
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