General Motors will cut back on production at a truck plant in Oshawa, Ontario, eliminating a shift this fall due to President Donald Trump’s auto import tariff.
GM said that an “evolving trade environment” and lower demand led to the decision to end the shift at the plant, which produces Chevrolet Silverados, The Detroit News reported on Friday. The move will result in around 750 employees getting laid off, according to the union representing affected workers.
“These changes will help support a sustainable manufacturing footprint as GM reorients the Oshawa plant to build more trucks in Canada for Canadian customers,” the Detroit-based automaker said in a statement.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the news from GM is “extremely tough for the workers in Oshawa and their families.”
“These are hardworking people who have helped build Ontario’s auto industry,” Ford added. He then blamed Trump’s tariffs for causing “economic uncertainty and chaos.”
The Oshawa plant stopped producing new cars in 2019, but GM revitalized it just two years later and began making new trucks there.
“GM Oshawa was reopened thanks to the hard work of our members and significant investments by the federal and provincial governments based on a promise to maintain good jobs and production. We will not sit idly by as that promise is eroded one shift at a time,” said Chris Waugh, the chairman of Unifor, the Canadian general trade union.
Trump’s 25% tariff on auto imports has sent car manufacturers scrambling to move production to the United States or cut back on production costs. Last month, GM announced to its staff that it would ramp up production of light-duty trucks at its assembly plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The increased production at the Fort Wayne plant promises to add more temporary jobs and increase overtime opportunities for employees.
Foreign car makers are also looking to boost manufacturing and investments in the United States. German automaker Mercedes-Benz announced on Thursday that it will build another car in the United States, adding a “core vehicle segment” to its factory in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Bloomberg reported.
Trump has credited tariffs for bringing more manufacturing jobs back to the United States. After South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai announced a $21 billion investment in the United States over the next four years, Trump said that “tariffs very strongly work.”
