Possible tariffs 'untenable' for auto sector, as latest threats cause uncertainty in Windsor
Jeff Pawluck, the new car sales manager at Motor City Chrysler, says he hasn't heard much from his staff yet about the tariff threat.
"We've had a couple of sales guys say that they got messages that people were worried maybe about their job," Pawluck said.
"We haven't heard that much of it yet because we just don't know the impact."
Jeff Pawluck, the new car sales manager at Motor City Chrysler. He says he hasn't heard much from his staff yet about the tariff threat. (Chris Ensing/CBC)
Pawluck says he and the industry have survived hard times before, such as the 2008 financial crisis, and he hasn't made any major moves in response to the latest threat.
He has not, for example, been stocking up on cars, because it costs money to have inventory sit on the lot.
But he said consumers considering a car purchase do have some warning of possible price increases ahead.
"You know, if a person is looking at something in … the immediate future, is it probably going to be cheaper today than it would be if there [were] tariffs put on? Probably a million per cent."
Trump made the tariff threats during an interview with Fox News on Monday.
"If we don't make a deal with Canada, we're going to put a big tariff on cars," he said.
"Could be a 50 or 100 per cent because we don't want their cars, we want to make cars in Detroit."
Trump made the comments the same day he imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports.
He previously threatened 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian products and 10 per cent on energy.
The president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association said his members have "deep concern" with the latest remarks.
"This industry has been founded on integration," Brian Kingston said.
"That's what makes Canada and North America competitive as an auto manufacturing jurisdiction. … So when proposals come forward to put in place tariffs that is effectively a tax. It raises costs, it has impacts on production and it challenges the competitiveness of the industry in a very very challenging global environment now."
The CEO of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association called the possible tariffs "clearly untenable on a whole pile of levels."
Dennis Darby said Canada needs to get to the bottom of what the tariff threats are really about.
"This is clearly not about protecting or improving American jobs at this stage," he said.
"I'm hopeful that the care companies in the U.S. … will speak up. It's going to have to be American stakeholders who speak up because I can't think of any other way out of this.
The president of Unifor Local 195, which represents some smaller manufacturers in the auto sector, said the union and the government have worked hard to attract investment to Windsor.
Emile Nabbout is the president of Unifor Local 195. (Chris Ensing/CBC)
He said he hopes Trump's actions will not lead to investors changing their mind about Canada and moving south of the border.
But Emile Nabbout said that chaos can lead to opportunity.
"We have to be relying on ourselves," Nabbout said.
"We learned this from COVID that we shouldn't be relying on other countries in the minute of chaos. This is the second wake up call for all our political leadership in this country."
Canada, Nabbout said, needs a comprehensive industrial policy that covers everything from natural resources up to manufacturing, one that will protect Canadians going forward.
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"They don't feel welcome here, so why come and spend their money here?" Tanzella said. "On the surface, it affects airlines and hotels. But if you dig a little deeper it does affect other businesses, whether it's barber shops or restaurants, bars, spas. A lot of communities rely on tourists to come in and spend their money," he added. Despite concerns of waning visits from international LGBTQ+ travelers, as well as some pullbacks in corporate sponsorships for Pride celebrations, Pride organizations across the U.S. said attendance was strong at Pride Month events, many of which take place on the last weekend of June. But many organizations said it's still too soon to get official attendance numbers or difficult to estimate, given that many Pride celebrations are non-ticketed and open to the public. Matt Şenız-Cheng, associate director of partnerships for NYC Pride, said attendance for its Pride events last weekend is expected to total 2.5 million — in line with its typical numbers. 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However, Tanzella, of the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association, said he heard numbers for WorldPride were down this year. Cities in red states have also continued on with their pride celebrations. Attendance rose from about 28,000 last year to 33,000 this year at Phoenix Pride's annual Rainbows Festival in April, Executive Director Michael Fornelli told CNBC in a statement. Its pride parade will be celebrated in October due to the summer heat. In Salt Lake City, SLC Pride estimated its celebration last weekend brought in 17,000 attendees, more than the 10,000 it saw last year, according to Bonnie O'Brien, festival director. "We are in a little bit of a blue bubble here in Salt Lake," O'Brien said. "We're not expecting people to come from big, big cities or foreign countries. But will we get people from Wyoming? Yes. Will we get people from rural Utah or rural Idaho? Yes." "It's not about travel. It's not about red or blue," she said. "It's about the closest place that they can find community. And that they know that they're safe, if just for a weekend."
