General Motors announced today that it will idle five factories in North America, laying off 3,300 production workers and 8,000 salaried workers.
The factories that will halt production in 2019 include Lordstown, Ohio; Detroit-Hamtramck, Michigan; Oshawa, Ontario; and transmission plants near Baltimore, Maryland and Warren, Michigan. The company said some of the facilities could resume production in the future depending on the outcome of contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers union next year.
GM cited lower demand for small and midsize vehicles in recent years, along with the negative effects of recent tariffs. In June, GM slashed its profit outlook for 2018 and attributed it to steel tariffs driving up costs. GM does not import much steel for production, but domestic steel producers have raised prices since Section 232 tariffs were announced earlier this year.
GM also said that two additional, unspecified factories outside North America would halt operations by the end of 2019.