Automaker to temporarily lay off 900 US workers due to tariffs
Stellantis said on Thursday it will pause production at assembly plants in Canada and Mexico and temporarily lay off about 900 employees at auto factories in Michigan and Indiana.
The announcement comes just hours after President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariff plan went into effect at midnight, including 25% import duties on foreign-made cars.
The pause begins Monday at Stellantis assembly plants in Windsor, Ontario, and Toluca, Mexico.
Lou Ann Gosselin, Stellantis' spokeswoman for Canada, said the layoffs and downtime were caused by tariffs levied by the Trump administration on Wednesday.'Stellantis continues to assess the effects of the recently announced U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles and will continue to engage with the U.S. administration on these policy changes,' Gosselin said in an email to FreightWaves. 'Immediate actions we must take include temporarily pausing production at some of our Canadian and Mexican assembly plants, which will have an impact on several of our U.S. powertrain and stamping facilities that support those operations.'
The Windsor plant employs over 3,600 workers and produces the Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Charger Daytona EV. The Mexico plant, which employs 2,676 workers, produces the Jeep Compass and Jeep Wagoneer EV.
Because of the pause in Canada and Mexico, 900 workers at Stellantis factories in Warren and Sterling, Michigan, and Kokomo, Indiana, will be temporarily laid off.
Stellantis would not disclose if there will be temporary lay offs at the Windsor plant. Auto workers at the Stellantis plant in Toluca will not be laid off and will continue to report to work, the company said.Officials with Unifor Local 444, the union representing workers at the Windsor facility, posted a letter from Stellantis on Facebook notifying production workers not to report to work over the next two weeks unless directed by a supervisor.
Stellantis' Windsor plant is scheduled to resume production around April 21, while the Toluca plant will be closed for a month.
Windsor is just across the border from Detroit. Toluca is 684 miles south of the U.S. port of entry in Laredo, Texas.
Trump's new reciprocal tariffs don't apply to Mexico and Canada, but the U.S. is maintaining existing tariffs on both counties related to stemming the flow of fentanyl into the country, Trump said.
The U.S. currently has a 25% tariff on all goods from Canada and Mexico, except products that fall under the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement.
The post Automaker to temporarily lay off 900 US workers due to tariffs appeared first on FreightWaves.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Oil prices slip as rising OPEC+ output, tariff fears weigh on outlook
By Yuka Obayashi TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower in early Asian trade on Wednesday, weighed down by a loosening supply-demand balance following increasing OPEC+ output and lingering concerns over the global economic outlook due to tariff tensions. Brent crude futures dipped 5 cents, or 0.1%, to $65.58 a barrel by 0040 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $63.32 a barrel, down 9 cents, or 0.1%. Both benchmarks climbed about 2% on Tuesday to a two-week high, supported by worries over supply disruptions from Canadian wildfires and expectations that Iran will reject a U.S. nuclear deal proposal that is key to easing sanctions on the major oil producer. "Despite fears over Canadian supply and stalled Iran-U.S. nuclear talks, oil markets are struggling to extend gains," said Tsuyoshi Ueno, senior economist at NLI Research Institute, adding that OPEC+ production increases were capping the upside. Ueno said hopes for progress in U.S.-China trade talks were overshadowed by profit-taking, as investors remained cautious over the broader economic fallout from tariffs. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will likely speak this week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday, days after Trump accused China of violating an agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions. As the Trump administration pressed U.S. trading partners to provide their best offers by Wednesday, the protracted negotiations and moving deadlines have led economists to scale back growth forecasts. On Tuesday, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cut its global growth forecast as the fallout from Trump's trade war takes a bigger toll on the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, scores of wildfires have swept across Canada since the start of May, forcing thousands of evacuations and disrupting crude oil production in the country. U.S. crude stocks fell by 3.3 million barrels in the week ended May 30, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Gasoline inventories rose by 4.7 million barrels and distillate stocks rose by about 760,000 barrels. [API/S] A Reuters poll of nine analysts estimated an average draw of 1 million barrels in crude stocks. [EIA/S] Official inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due on Wednesday.
Politico
39 minutes ago
- Politico
White House allies ‘disappointed' at Musk's opposition to the megabill
Republican allies close to the White House are privately argue that the former special government employee — who spent Tuesday afternoon blasting the spending bill and threatening to retaliate against its supporters — is opposing the bill because it harms the tech billionaire's business interests. The House-passed megabill represents the president's chief — and potentially only — major legislative priority this Congress. But Musk's opposition suggests that the coalition that vaulted Trump to the White House is still facing internal disagreement over it as it makes its way through the Senate. It marks another dust-up between the MAGA and Tech Right. And it raises the possibility some members face pressure from Musk if they ultimately support it. 'The West Wing is perplexed, unenthused, and disappointed' with Musk, who left the White House to attend to his ailing business empire, according to one White House official, who like others interviewed for this story were granted anonymity to be candid about an ally who spent hundreds of millions to ensconce them in the White House.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Feds remove 18 regulations that hurt energy production and mining
June 3 (UPI) -- The Interior Department has eliminated 18 outdated or redundant Bureau of Land Management regulations that the Trump administration says stymied energy production on public lands. The rescinded regulations include those regarding prospecting for mineral resources, mining claims, oil shale placer claims, and geothermal leases and drilling, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on Tuesday in a news release. Other rescinded regulations include those for public lands hearings, annual fees for oil placer mining claims, surface management plans for mining, and hardrock mineral processing and milling. "This effort embodies our dedication to removing bureaucratic red tape that hinders American innovation and energy production," Burgum said. "By rescinding these outdated regulations, we are not only reducing costs and streamlining processes but also reinforcing our commitment to energy independence and national prosperity." Burgum said that commitment won't stop the Interior Department from "maintaining the highest standards of environmental stewardship." At least one environmental group disagrees. Removing the regulations also removes federal oversight of geothermal energy projects and mineral mining on public lands and in federally managed wilderness areas, officials with the Sierra Club said on Tuesday in a news release. The changes were made without any public input, the Sierra Club said. "Cutting the public out of a major policy change is a sign the policy isn't good for the public," said Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program. "Rather than give the American people a chance to check their work, the Trump administration is forcing through changes that make it easier for corporate polluters to profit off the public lands that are held in trust for the American people," Manuel said. "It's just one more indication that [President] Donald Trump and his cabinet will stop at nothing to sell out our public lands to their billionaire buddies." The Sierra Club said the regulatory changes also fast-track "corporate extraction, like drilling, mining and logging, on public lands." It did not indicate whether or not a federal court challenge would be filed in the matter.
