How U.S. tariffs will likely affect Ontario industries like steel, trucking and auto

As the U.S. imposes heavy tariffs on Canadian goods — and Ottawa retaliates — many in Ontario industries like auto, steel and trucking say they're in for a tough road ahead.

Just after midnight Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump followed through with long-threatened tariffs on most Canadian goods, as well as a 10 per cent tariff on all Canadian energy exports to the U.S.

Canada responded by slapping tariffs on an initial tranche of $30 billion worth of American goods, and promising to place tariffs on an additional $125 billion worth of goods in three weeks.

Here's how tariffs could impact major Ontario industries, and consumers, according to people on the inside.

Ontario's auto industry employs well over 100,000 people in the province, but its interconnectedness with the U.S. auto industry makes tariffs a serious threat to those jobs, according to people in the sector.

Auto workers at a General Motors (GM) plant in Oshawa say the impact of tariffs was on everyone's mind Tuesday morning, and no one is certain about the future of their jobs.

"There's a lot of panic," employee Jacob Lyte told CBC Radio's Metro Morning outside the plant as he got off his shift. 

"I've been here my whole life. I'm third-generation GM," Lyte said. "Maybe my kids would like to work here someday, but with the tariffs, that might not be possible."

The plant makes the Chevrolet Silverado, and its parts cross the border between six and eight times before completion, according to the head of the union that represents the plant's workers. 

"We're probably facing the biggest industrial crisis we've ever faced," Unifor Local 222 president Jeff Gray said.

The impact of tariffs could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs in Ontario, according to Peter Morrow, an economic professor at the University of Toronto, who says he expects auto sector assembly lines could soon shut down if tariffs stay in place.

"I think the auto sector is really going to be ground zero for a lot of this economic disruption," Morrow said. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was on the order of the 2009 recession."

But the impact will likely be felt both ways, says Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association. 

Volpe says Trump may reconsider his position if autoworkers start getting laid off in states that helped him win the presidency in 2024.