The Trump 25 percent tariff on auto imports from Canada could have potentially devastating consequences for the integrated supply chain that was built over decades prior to and since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Some fear that the tariff could result in companies such as Fiat Chrysler Automotive moving its factory out of Windsor, Canada. The assembly plant employs 6,000 people and is the largest manufacturing workplace in Canada in 2017 according to research reports. Previously Ford and General Motors all had operations in the city. After 90 years, the GM manufacturing plant closed in 2010. Ford previously had 6 plants but has now consolidated to two engine plants. Ford employs 2,330 people in the city.
The auto industry received $10.6 billion from Ontario and federal government in 2009 to help survive the 2008 recession.
Canada's auto sector, the country's leading exporter, delivers roughly $80 billion in economic activity annually. It employs about 500,000 Canadians through direct and indirect jobs. The industry employs about 150,000 people directly with most in Ontario at about 124,000.
Canada exported about $63 billion worth of automobiles in 2016, 96 percent to the US, according to Statistics Canada and the U.S. Census Bureau. The country also exported roughly $21 billion in auto parts in 2016, 90 percent shipping to Mexico. According to the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, every Canadian auto assembly job creates nine jobs in the economy.