How U.S. tariffs will likely affect Ontario industries like steel, trucking and auto
Industry insiders explain how new U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods will hit their sectors
As the U.S. imposes heavy tariffs on Canadian goods — and Ottawa retaliates — many in Ontario industries like auto, steel and trucking say they're in for a tough road ahead.
Just after midnight Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump followed through with long-threatened tariffs on most Canadian goods, as well as a 10 per cent tariff on all Canadian energy exports to the U.S.
Canada responded by slapping tariffs on an initial tranche of $30 billion worth of American goods, and promising to place tariffs on an additional $125 billion worth of goods in three weeks.
Here's how tariffs could impact major Ontario industries, and consumers, according to people on the inside.
Automotive industry
Ontario's auto industry employs well over 100,000 people in the province, but its interconnectedness with the U.S. auto industry makes tariffs a serious threat to those jobs, according to people in the sector.
Auto workers at a General Motors (GM) plant in Oshawa say the impact of tariffs was on everyone's mind Tuesday morning, and no one is certain about the future of their jobs.
"There's a lot of panic," employee Jacob Lyte told CBC Radio's Metro Morning outside the plant as he got off his shift.
"I've been here my whole life. I'm third-generation GM," Lyte said. "Maybe my kids would like to work here someday, but with the tariffs, that might not be possible."
The plant makes the Chevrolet Silverado, and its parts cross the border between six and eight times before completion, according to the head of the union that represents the plant's workers.
"We're probably facing the biggest industrial crisis we've ever faced," Unifor Local 222 president Jeff Gray said.
The impact of tariffs could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs in Ontario, according to Peter Morrow, an economic professor at the University of Toronto, who says he expects auto sector assembly lines could soon shut down if tariffs stay in place.
"I think the auto sector is really going to be ground zero for a lot of this economic disruption," Morrow said. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was on the order of the 2009 recession."
But the impact will likely be felt both ways, says Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association.
Volpe says Trump may reconsider his position if autoworkers start getting laid off in states that helped him win the presidency in 2024.
"Maybe that's the kind of smack he's going to need," Volpe said. "He's walking the U.S. economy over the edge. Who wins?"
Steel industry
Like the auto industry, Canadian steel producers rely heavily on trade with the U.S.
Layoffs were already announced ahead of Trump's tariff deadline at Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, which sells coil for automotive and appliance construction in the U.S.
Union leaders at the plant say they could be temporary, depending on how long tariffs are in place, but more may be on the way.
Keanin Loomis, president and CEO of the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction, says the threat of tariffs had already made steel more expensive, slowing production and causing contracts to be cancelled.
"So, in fact, we are dealing with higher prices at this moment — and, as of today, higher even yet," he told Metro Morning Tuesday.
Loomis, who's based in Hamilton, home to one of the highest concentrations of steel manufacturing activity in the country, says Canadian steel producers don't have the inventory to get through a prolonged trade war.
"It's really a sad day," Loomis said. "We've been targeted by a good friend."
Trucking
Then there's the sector that's on the front lines of cross-border trade: trucking.
Stephen Laskowski, CEO and president of the Ontario Trucking Association, says 2025 has been hectic.
"Prior to the beginning of the year, we had one of the slowest freight recessions in probably 40 years," he said. "But recently, there's been a big uptake in business, not because the economy's changed, but because people are trying to rush their product over the border to avoid this date."
While truckers don't pay tariffs, Laskowski says trucking companies across Ontario are worried that business will slow down or clients will move production south.
He says that would "put a long-term damper on the demand for trucking services, and, quite frankly, our economy."
Anita Anand, Canada's Minister of Internal Trade and Transportation, says Ottawa is working to remove interprovincial trade barriers, saying it will make it easier for truckers and goods to move across the country, and adding a potential $200 billion to the Canadian economy.
'Buy Canadian' mindset taking hold
Even Canadians whose jobs might not be affected by tariffs will have to deal with higher prices on a variety of goods.
CBC Toronto spoke with several shoppers outside a Metro grocery store in the city's east end Tuesday morning who said they're concerned about prices going up with the cost of living already so high.
"Everything is very expensive. Now, this is way more expensive," said Mahasim Chowdhury. He says he's trying to buy only Canadian products to save money and support Canadian businesses.
Some stores are already marking which products are made in Canada on their shelves.
"I was just in there and I overheard three different people say, is that Canadian?" said shopper Holly Lipsett.
Ontario municipalities are also encouraging people to buy Canadian, including Toronto, where Mayor Olivia Chow is working with business and labour leaders on a plan to combat tariffs.
The city is also working with local Business Improvement Areas to support small businesses through the trade war, Chow said Tuesday.
In Brampton, Mayor Patrick Brown announced a "Made in Canada" procurement policy for the city Tuesday. The city will review current agreements with U.S.-owned companies and block American companies from participating in future city procurements.
Brown has also created a task force to help local businesses find non-U.S. markets. The city is home to a number of sectors that rely on exporting to the U.S., including auto parts, steel, and aluminium industries.
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With files from Clara Pasieka, Haydn Watters and Metro Morning