Prepare for ‘pain’ with Trump’s return, Windsor leaders warn

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Windsor leaders are warning of “some pain” that can be expected with Donald Trump’s return to the White House, but they also urge Canada to push back against tariff threats and musings about Canada joining the U.S.

On Tuesday, Trump reiterated that he intends to put “substantial” tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, but added he may use “economic force” to make Canada join the United States. Trump also said he would rather see cars built in Detroit rather than the current integrated continental auto supply chain, one that benefits Windsor as a major auto sector centre. 

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Some local spokespeople who spoke with the Star are urging more Canadian leaders to speak out to counter false information, and they expect U.S. companies to challenge Trump’s policies in court.

Tariffs would have a major impact on that supply chain system and on a border city like Windsor, with auto parts crossing the border several times for each vehicle. 

Canada’s leaders must address false information being used to justify new tariffs, said John D’Agnolo, president of Unifor Local 200, which represents auto industry workers at Ford in Windsor, as well as other companies in Southwest Ontario.

“Our governments need to step up to the plate and start countering anything they say,” D’Agnolo told the Star.

“(Trump) just likes to throw threats out and throw out challenges to create a lot of drama, and we can’t have it. Our country has to stand up to threats like that and just tell them, ‘All due respect, we do a lot of trade with you, including the pipelines in Alberta.’ We have to make sure that we tell them that that’s not going to happen.” 

But D’Agnolo said auto companies aren’t likely to drastically change their plans based on one four-year term for Trump.  

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“(Auto companies) are looking long-term. They’re not looking short-term when they’re investing billions of dollars into new programs. They’ve got to make sure that they look at the whole picture.” 

The party in power in the U.S. has changed three times since Barack Obama was last president in 2017, so a one-term president isn’t going to force auto companies to make major changes to their decision-making, he said. 

D’Agnolo noted that in Trump’s first term as president, tariffs were imposed on imported aluminum. Canada retaliated with tariffs on some U.S. imports and was given an exemption from aluminum tariffs less than a year later. 

Should Trump places excessive tariffs on Canadian auto imports, Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association president Flavio Volpe said he would expect auto companies in the United States to challenge them in court. 

When the Ambassador Bridge was blocked by protesters in early 2022, stopping hundreds of millions of dollars in trade daily, the AMPA got an emergency injunction by arguing the blockade “caused permanent damage to companies,” Volpe said.  

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“American companies … would seek emergency injunctions in court, and if I was running those companies, that’s where we would end up rather quickly,” he said. 

“If somebody used a legal instrument… to stop your goods from being sold and gave preference and precedence to your competition, you have a fiduciary obligation to go to court or go to Washington, or both,” Volpe said. 

“If I’m a shareholder, and that happens and I don’t hear that, I push for change.” 

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre’s reaction to Trump on Tuesday, in which he said “Canada will never be the 51st state of the U.S.,” was effective, according to Volpe. 

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who announced this week he plans to resign when a new leader is chosen for the Liberal Party, posted on social media there is “not a snowball’s chance in hell” that Canada will join the U.S. 

“We know well from Trump 1.0 (his method) is to seek out weakness and pick the scab,” said Volpe. Uncertainty in the Liberal government’s leadership is a weakness, he said. 

Still, Trump’s comments, whether or not he follows through, will likely have an effect, Volpe said. 

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“I think his comments are going to affect the markets, and that’s important for auto companies, because they’re publicly trading their share values. 

“(Markets are) an important tool for shepherding the type of capital they need for new investment, or mergers and acquisitions, or to stave off tough times. So you’re going to bet that any of those companies are going to be absolutely watching the markets very, very tightly, and they’ll have a short- and long-term plan on Trump.” 

Can companies be browbeaten by Trump into making decisions favouring investment in the U.S. during the president’s term? “I don’t think there’s a clear answer to that,” said Volpe. 

Trump has promised to end environmental incentives, including those aimed at electric vehicle batteries. Vehicle production slowed to 1.3 million cars last year, down from two million in 2018, largely due to the slowdown in demand for EV vehicles. 

But the auto sector also stands poised to provide EV technology for the U.S.’s military. “So if you’re hurting the EV transition, you’re hurting your strategic capability to be flexible in the new world,” Volpe said, noting that China is moving fast on EV technology. 

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MP Brian Masse (NDP — Windsor West), said Canadians must prepare for Trump’s actions. 

“There is no doubt that he’s going to use every opportunity to … use bully tactics to get manufacturers and investors to only consider the United States,” Masse said. 

“I strongly believe, for the auto sector, we should be examining right now domestic procurement policies for fleet purchases for municipalities, provinces and federal government, to see what products that are made in Canada in our auto sector fit the needs of addressing our goals of increasing, not only just our production, but also stabilizing,” in the face of tariffs, he said.

“Because clearly there’s going to be some pain.” 

Canada provides an advantage for the auto industry because of the lower Canadian dollar and government health-care benefits, rather than benefits provided by auto companies, which leads to a healthier workforce, Masse said. 

“We want more strength and response with regards to planning, organizing, how we’re going to … get prepared to do some amelioration for industries that are affected.” 

Asked if there was potential for Canada to lose some investment decisions to the U.S. during Trump’s term, Masse replied: “That’s a very real possibility.” 

He reiterated his call for a national auto strategy to set measurable targets and goals for investments. 

bamacleod@postmedia.com 

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