Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown is warning that thousands of local auto sector jobs are now in jeopardy following a major escalation in the U.S.-Canada tariff war, calling the new penalties “foolish, misguided, (and) unjustified.”
Brown’s comments come in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest trade move — hiking tariffs on all Canadian goods not covered under the the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement from 25 to 35 per cent.
The White House says the crackdown is partly due to Canada’s alleged failure to stop fentanyl smuggling, but Brown says the economic fallout in cities like Brampton will be severe, especially with Stellantis, the world’s fourth-largest carmaker, previously announcing they would be halting the reopening of a major automotive plant that was expected to create 3,000 jobs.
‘Very nervous about our automotive jobs’
“We have an unpredictable U.S. President right now that is causing havoc to our economy,” Brown told CP24 on Friday morning. “This is not something that we tolerate as a country. There are families that are going to be unable to provide for themselves because of these foolish, misguided, unjustified tariffs.”
Brown said the decision by Stellantis to pause the reopening of its Brampton assembly plant — originally being retooled to manufacture electric vehicles — will leave at least 3,000 workers in limbo, along with “thousands more” in the local supply chain.
“I’m very nervous about our automotive jobs,” Brown said. “But I’d also say there’s a supply chain that supports these auto plants, and we have just as many jobs in that supply chain that are at risk.”
The delay, comes as Stellantis hopes to counteract some of the 1.5 billion-euro (US$1.7 billion) cost of tariffs this year.
Record setting drug busts across the GTA
While the White House has linked the new tariff hike to Canada’s alleged failure to stop drug smuggling, Brown has since rejected that claim outright.
“I sit on the Peel Police Services Board. I can tell you 99.9 per cent of the drugs that come into our country come through our U.S. border,” he said. “There’s a problem with this contraband coming in, not from Canada to the U.S., but from the U.S. to Canada.”
In fact, it should be noted that Toronto and Peel police have already recently made record-setting drug busts, including Project Castillo, which intercepted $83 million in cocaine trafficked from Mexico through the U.S., and Project Pelican, a joint probe that seized nearly 500 kilograms of cocaine smuggled by commercial trucks across the American border.
“If the U.S. administration is going to be stubborn about these tariffs, there needs to be consequences in retaliation,” Brown said.
He pointed to Peel Region’s own procurement rules, which now exclude American companies, and encouraged a united Canadian response across all levels of government.
A souring relationship continues
Brown said the U.S. stands to lose just as much if the trade relationship continues to fray.
“I had U.S. mayors telling me they depend on Canadian salt for winter maintenance. There are so many different products the U.S. relies on,” he said. “We need to show the U.S. administration the consequences of not having a great relationship with our closest friend and neighbour.”
He also expressed concern that Canadian companies may be forced to relocate across the border just to survive.
“I’m very concerned,” he said. “This could lead to businesses moving to the States because it’s more affordable. And that’s a tragedy for our workers.”
Still, Brown was clear that he believes this crisis won’t last forever.
“This U.S. President does not define the United States,” he said. “And in a matter of years, he will no longer be the U.S. President.”
It’s time for Canada to ‘look within,’ Mississauga mayor says
Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish is throwing her support behind Premier Doug Ford’s call to retaliate against the American tariffs on steel and aluminum, and urged the prime minister to keep working on bringing down interprovincial trade barriers.
“At 35 per cent, the waters are too rough to calm as far as I’m concerned. I agree with what Premier Ford is doing, and I hope Prime Minister Carney comes back punting,” Parrish told CP24.
The Mississauga mayor, echoing the sentiments she made in a post on social media Wednesday night, said the tariffs present an opportunity for Canada to “look within” and make the country self-sufficient.
“It’s time for us to refine what we do here,” she said.
“I think we have to become more self-sufficient. So in the future, when another Trump takes over in the States—I’m sure this guy’s gone in three years—that we won’t be put through the same grind.”
Parrish encouraged Ottawa to retaliate, and at the same time, still leave the door open for some negotiation. She said while she supports the premier’s call, she does not agree with the figure Ford suggested.
“I don’t know if I’d go to 50 per cent tariffs, as he suggested. I think that’s upping the ante too much, and it just looks like we’re punching them right in the head,” Parrish said.
“So, I agree with his theories. I don’t agree with the 50 percent quite yet, unless things get much worse.”
She also shared that during her recent roundtable with big manufacturers, many of them expressed nervousness with the ongoing situation and wanted officials to act with caution.
