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Stellantis is pausing production at some plants in Canada and Mexico, the auto giant announced Thursday, citing US President Donald Trump's tariffs on foreign-made vehicles. The move, which affects thousands of workers, is the first disruption to the sector since the tariffs came into effect. Stellantis owns Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge, among other major brands.
"Stellantis continues to assess the effects of the recently announced US tariffs on imported vehicles," a company statement said.
"Immediate actions we must take include temporarily pausing production at some of our Canadian and Mexican assembly plants," it added.
Vehicle production in North America is highly integrated and the full impact of Trump's 25 percent levy on foreign-made vehicles and parts, which came into effect on Thursday, remains unclear. Individual parts can cross the US-Canada border several times during the assembly process.
Officials have said Trump's tariffs will apply only to a vehicle's non-American components, but implementing that policy may be complicated. Stellantis said it would "continue to engage with the US administration" on its new auto sector policies.
The company confirmed the Chrysler plant in the Canadian city of Windsor, across a river from US auto capital Detroit, will pause production from April 7 to 21. The factory, which employs around 4,000 people and is one of three Stellantis has in Canada, manufactures the Chrysler Pacifica minivan and the electric version of the Dodge Charger.
Windsor has been on edge since Trump first announced his plans for auto sector tariffs. US auto companies have employed people in the city for more than a century and the industry is vital to the local economy.
Detroit and Windsor are connected by a suspension bridge and tunnel, with auto industry workers crossing back and forth daily.
Trump has publicly told auto companies that to avoid tariffs they need to build plants in the United States and employ American workers. Industry experts note North American production chains have developed to maximize efficiency and unwinding those links to relocate jobs to the United States would take years, if not decades.
Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke last week and agreed Washington and Ottawa should discuss the broader future of bilateral trade after Canada's April 28 election.
