windsor on 'pins and needles' as trump tariffs take effect
if u.s. president donald trump makes good on his promis...
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if u.s. president donald trump makes good on his promise to impose punishing tariffs on tuesday, billions of dollars in trade and thousands of jobs in windsor-essex alone will almost immediately be in peril.
barring a last-minute reprieve, tariffs against all goods coming from canada, with additional tariffs on automotive, aluminum and steel products stacked on top, are expected to start taking effect tuesday. as of print deadline monday, tariffs were looming though, either way, trump’s tariff threats keep adding stress in border towns like windsor.
“everyone is sitting on pins and needles,” ryan donally, ceo of the windsor-essex regional chamber of commerce, told the star. “the nervousness is there. we’ve got to hope that calmer heads prevail and that the folks that have the ear of mr. trump identify that this is not a positive situation for his own residents.
“not only does this majorly impact windsor-essex. this significantly disrupts the entire u.s. economy.”
to deal with the fallout of a north american trade war and act as a unified voice for the region, the local chamber of commerce and invest windsoressex created the windsor-essex economic trade task force.
a recent study by the canadian chamber of commerce found that windsor could be the third-hardest hit city in canada by u.s. tariffs, next to calgary and saint john, n.b.
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the demand in windsor-essex for goods and services from outside the region totals $62.6 billion annually, according to invest windsoressex. the region also sends $42.1 billion in exports to outside jurisdictions every year, most of it to the u.s.
invest windsoressex lists 775 businesses in the region that export to the united states.
the agency said windsor-essex motor vehicle manufacturing exports are worth about $9.8 billion a year. automotive parts add another $4.5 billion. local farms, particularly greenhouse operations, export nearly $4 billion worth of products.
metalworking machinery manufacturing accounts for more than $2.4 billion in exports. other “general-purpose machinery manufacturing” exports are worth more than $1.2 billion.
those industries alone provide more than 20,000 local jobs.
“we’re talking tens of thousands of jobs in windsor-essex that are tied to the export industry,” said donally.
“if all the tariffs come into force, including on the automotive industry, experts identify that within two weeks to three weeks post-tariff, a complete shutdown of the automotive industry. it might even be shorter. if that happens, we’re looking at thousands of people that could be laid off.”
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trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from canada and mexico as of tuesday. the canadian government has stated it will impose tit-for-tat retaliatory tariffs.
trump initially planned to implement the tariffs against canada on feb. 4. he postponed them to march 4 following last-minute negotiations with prime minister justin trudeau.
but those tariffs are not the only problem.
on feb. 9, trump announced a plan for 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports from any country. the white house has said those levies will be on top of the other across-the-board tariffs.
that means steel and aluminum imports from canada — the world’s largest exporter of those products to the u.s. — could be hit with 50-per-cent tariffs.
trump’s administration is also threatening a further 25 per cent tariff on automotive imports, which would be catastrophic for windsor-detroit, where parts cross the border multiple times during the manufacturing process.
ford motor company ceo jim farley has said such a move will “blow a hole” in the sector. general motor chief financial officer paul jacobson warned that permanent tariffs could force auto companies to move operations out of mexico and canada.
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the white house has also confirmed reciprocal tariffs — essentially imposing the same levies on goods from any given country that imposes levies on u.s. imports — also go into effect on april 2.
“let’s make sure that the messaging comes loud and clear from us or within the u.s. population as a whole, for any of your american readers, that is not going to be good for any of us on both sides of the border,” said donally.
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