This firm employs thousands in Canada, the US and Mexico. Here’s what its workers think of Trump’s tariffs

In the hours before Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a 30-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s threatened 25% tariff on Canadian goods, the co-founder of one of Canada’s largest auto parts manufacturers was bewildered.

In the hours before Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a 30-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s threatened 25% tariff on Canadian goods, the co-founder of one of Canada’s largest auto parts manufacturers was bewildered. “Why blow it up?” Rob Wildeboer, executive chairman at Martinrea International, asked CNN. “I don’t know anyone in our company who wants tariffs between Canada and the US, because we work very well as a unit.” Martinrea manufactures a wide range of parts for large car companies including Volvo, Stellantis and Ford. The company employs around 19,000 people across the world, with most of its workforce in Canada, the United States and Mexico. “We take care of our people everywhere,” Wildeboer said, showing CNN around the floor of his factory in Vaughan, Ontario, a small city just outside Toronto. Canada is the United States’ closest trading partner, with exports and imports alone adding up to nearly a trillion dollars a year. The trade surplus rests at about $40 billion in Canada’s favor, according to the US Congressional Research Service. Trump exaggerated this figure at Davos last month, incorrectly claiming that the US has a $200-$250 billion trade deficit with Canada. “With respect to the so-called trade deficit,” Wildeboer said, “If you take out cheap oil, which US refineries refine and make a ton of money, the US actually has a trade surplus.”