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.

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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.

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