By AFP
March 4, 2025
Windsor in Ontario, Canada is at the heart of the Canadian auto industry and is across the border from Detroit, Michigan in the United States - Copyright AFP Geoff Robins
Anne-Marie Provost
Residents of the Canadian border city of Windsor had held out hope US President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs on imports from Canada would prove hollow, but that faith was dashed Monday, sparking fear for their futures.
Trump had unveiled — and then paused — blanket tariffs of up to 25 percent on imports from major trading partners Canada and Mexico in February, accusing the US neighbors of failing to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
Canadian leaders had been pushing for a deal ahead of the expiration of the halt this week, but Trump said there was “no room left” on Monday for both countries to avoid fresh levies.
The pronouncement sent shockwaves through Windsor, Ontario, home to 250,000 people and the thriving heart of the Canadian auto industry — located just across the border from US industry powerhouse Detroit, Michigan.
Residents said they felt betrayed by Canada’s neighbor and now fear the closures of factories and subcontractors.
“The mood is overall like we’re pretty scared,” said Joel Soleski, 26, who works for carmaker Stellantis.
“The impact would be a layoff until further notice,” he told AFP. “I just bought my first house… I might have to look for work elsewhere.”
The manufacturer is one of the most exposed to the looming tariffs, according to ratings agency Moody’s: 40 percent of Stellantis cars sold in the United States — under the Ram, Fiat, Dodge, or Chrysler brands — are made in Canada and Mexico.
Automotive parts can cross between the United States and Canada up to six times before a vehicle is assembled in Windsor, where the border can be almost forgotten and the economy is deeply integrated with Detroit’s.
Anxiety and anger were palpable among Stellantis workers clocking off on Monday afternoon.
Trump’s decision is “not even logical, it makes absolutely no sense,” said John D’Agnolo, president of a union in Windsor representing 2,000 workers at Ford.
“I can’t imagine how that would work,” he added, predicting layoffs could be seen in a few weeks after the tariffs go into effect, and that vehicles would become more expensive in the long term.
More than two million jobs are at stake in Canada, with 500,000 alone in Ontario, the country’s most populous province.
Ford employee Christina Grossi was in shock.
“They’re our jobs. We’ve been doing this for 100 years,” she said.
“It’s terrifying,” added the woman in her fifties, feeling betrayed by a country she has always considered a strong ally, and where her son is studying.
On Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford pledged to fight back.
“They want to hit us hard. We will hit them back twice as hard,” he said.
Trade war brings fear, uncertainty to Canadian border city
By AFP
March 4, 2025
Anne-Marie PROVOST
In the Canadian city of Windsor, which survives on the cross-border auto industry, the start of a trade war with the United States has opened a period of fear and uncertainty.
Windsor is separated from Detroit, Michigan by a river, and American automakers based in the US city have been an essential employer on the Canadian side for decades.
“The value of what we have around us is based on the automotive industry. So if it were to collapse, that will collapse with it,” Robert Pikata, a 60-year-old who works for Windsor’s municipal government, told AFP.
Like many Windsor residents, Pikata has been following the news closely in recent weeks.
Many had hoped that President Donald Trump would ultimately back away from tariffs that Ford’s CEO Jim Farley warned would “blow a hole” in the auto industry.
But Trump made good on his threat on Tuesday, imposing a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods.
Canada immediately retaliated, triggering a trade war between historically close allies and threatening future commerce across a border that sees billions of dollars in daily trade.
Addressing Canadians on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned of “tough” days ahead.
Pikata said economic conflict with the United States will see living standards in Windsor fall.
He told AFP he was “disappointed and scared at the same time because of the unknown.”
“How is it going to affect me personally and how is it going to affect my family?”
Jessica Dame, a 33-year-old healthcare worker, said businesses across Windsor rely on the US.
“You’re literally breaking relationships,” she said, addressing Trump. “I think we’re gonna see a huge decline in local economies.”
– ‘Shocked, not surprised’ –
Trump’s justifications for launching a trade war with Canada have shifted.
His administration has said the levies are designed to force Canada to act on the flow of undocumented migrants and the drug fentanyl across the border.
Trudeau has maintained that Canada is not a significant contributor to either problem in the United States, and on Tuesday called Trump’s fentanyl justification “completely false.”
Trump has also mused about tariffs as a corrective to the US trade deficit with Canada and falsely claimed that Canada prevents American banks from operating in the country.
The president said this week that auto companies that want to avoid the consequences of tariffs should open plants in the United States.
“Every time I hear (Trump) say something, I always find it’s like 50-50 about whether it’s actually true or not,” university student Zach Puget told AFP in Windsor.
Voicing concern that the trade war would force grocery prices higher, Puget said he was “shocked, but not surprised” that the measures had come into force.
In his address to Canadians, Trudeau offered a stark warning about Trump’s motivation.
He said the US president, who has spoken often of making Canada the 51st American state, “wants to see a collapse of the Canadian economy because that would make it easier to annex us.”
“That is never going to happen,” Trudeau asserted. “We will never be the 51st state.”
Anne-Marie PROVOST
In the Canadian city of Windsor, which survives on the cross-border auto industry, the start of a trade war with the United States has opened a period of fear and uncertainty.
Windsor is separated from Detroit, Michigan by a river, and American automakers based in the US city have been an essential employer on the Canadian side for decades.
“The value of what we have around us is based on the automotive industry. So if it were to collapse, that will collapse with it,” Robert Pikata, a 60-year-old who works for Windsor’s municipal government, told AFP.
Like many Windsor residents, Pikata has been following the news closely in recent weeks.
Many had hoped that President Donald Trump would ultimately back away from tariffs that Ford’s CEO Jim Farley warned would “blow a hole” in the auto industry.
But Trump made good on his threat on Tuesday, imposing a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods.
Canada immediately retaliated, triggering a trade war between historically close allies and threatening future commerce across a border that sees billions of dollars in daily trade.
Addressing Canadians on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned of “tough” days ahead.
Pikata said economic conflict with the United States will see living standards in Windsor fall.
He told AFP he was “disappointed and scared at the same time because of the unknown.”
“How is it going to affect me personally and how is it going to affect my family?”
Jessica Dame, a 33-year-old healthcare worker, said businesses across Windsor rely on the US.
“You’re literally breaking relationships,” she said, addressing Trump. “I think we’re gonna see a huge decline in local economies.”
– ‘Shocked, not surprised’ –
Trump’s justifications for launching a trade war with Canada have shifted.
His administration has said the levies are designed to force Canada to act on the flow of undocumented migrants and the drug fentanyl across the border.
Trudeau has maintained that Canada is not a significant contributor to either problem in the United States, and on Tuesday called Trump’s fentanyl justification “completely false.”
Trump has also mused about tariffs as a corrective to the US trade deficit with Canada and falsely claimed that Canada prevents American banks from operating in the country.
The president said this week that auto companies that want to avoid the consequences of tariffs should open plants in the United States.
“Every time I hear (Trump) say something, I always find it’s like 50-50 about whether it’s actually true or not,” university student Zach Puget told AFP in Windsor.
Voicing concern that the trade war would force grocery prices higher, Puget said he was “shocked, but not surprised” that the measures had come into force.
In his address to Canadians, Trudeau offered a stark warning about Trump’s motivation.
He said the US president, who has spoken often of making Canada the 51st American state, “wants to see a collapse of the Canadian economy because that would make it easier to annex us.”
“That is never going to happen,” Trudeau asserted. “We will never be the 51st state.”
Several Canadian provinces ban US alcohol in tariff response
By AFP
March 4, 2025
Donald Trump campaigned on a platform of tariffs and import duties - Copyright AFP/File Angela Weiss
Multiple Canadian provinces, including Ontario and Quebec, banned the sale of US alcohol on Tuesday, part of a broad national retaliation against import tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
“This is an enormous hit to American producers,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in announcing the measures imposed by Canada’s largest province.
Stores run by the publicly controlled Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) sell nearly one billion Canadian dollars ($688 million) worth of US alcohol products each year, Ford said.
The LCBO’s website was down Tuesday, with a notice saying the store was removing “US products in response to US tariffs on Canadian goods.”
In Quebec, the government said it was ordering the provincial alcohol distributor “to stop supplying American alcoholic beverages” to stores, bars and restaurants.
Manitoba’s Premier Wab Kinew posted: “We are taking US alcohol off the shelves.”
The provincial government in British Columbia said its liquor distributor would “stop buying American liquor from ‘red states’,” those that voted for Trump’s Republican Party.
By AFP
March 4, 2025
Donald Trump campaigned on a platform of tariffs and import duties - Copyright AFP/File Angela Weiss
Multiple Canadian provinces, including Ontario and Quebec, banned the sale of US alcohol on Tuesday, part of a broad national retaliation against import tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
“This is an enormous hit to American producers,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in announcing the measures imposed by Canada’s largest province.
Stores run by the publicly controlled Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) sell nearly one billion Canadian dollars ($688 million) worth of US alcohol products each year, Ford said.
The LCBO’s website was down Tuesday, with a notice saying the store was removing “US products in response to US tariffs on Canadian goods.”
In Quebec, the government said it was ordering the provincial alcohol distributor “to stop supplying American alcoholic beverages” to stores, bars and restaurants.
Manitoba’s Premier Wab Kinew posted: “We are taking US alcohol off the shelves.”
The provincial government in British Columbia said its liquor distributor would “stop buying American liquor from ‘red states’,” those that voted for Trump’s Republican Party.
No comments:
Post a Comment