Here are five things you need to know this morning
GM cutting Oshawa shift: General Motors is cutting back on its production in Ontario. GM says its Oshawa assembly plant will return to a two-shift operation, citing expected reduced demand, and what it calls “the evolving trade environment.” The automaker says the changes will help support a sustainable manufacturing footprint as it reorients the Oshawa plant to build more trucks in Canada for Canadian customers. Unifor, which represents about 3,000 employees at the Oshawa facility, said the shift reduction is “reckless” and that the move will “ripple through” the auto parts supplier network. It is not immediately clear how many jobs will be impacted.
Canadian auto parts to avoid tariffs: Meanwhile U.S. Customs and Border Protection has clarified that automobile parts compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement will not be hit with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Trump slapped a 25 per cent tariff on all vehicle and parts imports to the United States last month but gave a temporary reprieve for parts of cars compliant with the continental trade pact. That reprieve for auto parts was set to end tomorrow but now will continue. Industry and experts said it would be extremely cumbersome and complicated to figure out a way to only tariff non-American components of auto parts, which can cross the border between Canada and the United States multiple times before a vehicle is finished.
Magna raises forecast: And sticking with the auto sector, Ontario-based parts giant Magna International has raised its full-year sales forecast…though that forecast does not factor in the potential disruptions to global supply chains, including due to tariffs. Magna is expecting stronger vehicle production out of Asia, with a slight decline in North American sales to decline. Magna’s CEO says operating results in the quarter were helped by higher margins on its vehicle sales.
Apple and Amazon warn on tariff impact: Two tech giants say profits may be squeezed in the current quarter because of trade tariffs and a possible economic slowdown. Apple and Amazon both cited tariffs as a challenge when reporting first-quarter results and offered views of the current second quarter. Shares of both companies were down in pre-market trading in New York. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says there’s been some advance buying to avoid potential tariff impacts, while growth from third party selling was lower than analysts expected. Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company plans to make more of its iPhones in India rather than China, and buy more of its chips from Taiwan Semiconductor, which is expanding its operations in Arizona.
Profit jump at Aritzia: The news was better at Aritzia, the Vancouver-based women’s fashion retailer. Artizia said profit in its most recent quarter more than quadrupled compared to the same quarter a year earlier, reaching $99.6 million. Artizia marked-down prices on fewer items, and also benefitted from lower warehousing costs.
