Stellantis Strategy Underscores Risk to Canada Auto Sector, PM Carney Says

Dow Jones
Oct 15
 

By Paul Vieira

 

OTTAWA--Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Jeep-maker Stellantis is shifting work from his country to the U.S. due to President Trump's auto tariffs and the threat of further retaliation.

In a statement Tuesday evening, Carney said decisions on new investments in Canada's auto sector would remain at risk until there is some clarity about the future of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade treaty, which U.S. officials will formally review starting next year.

"We have further made clear that we expect Stellantis to fulfill the undertakings they have made to the workers" in Canada, Carney said.

Carney's statement came hours after Stellantis unveiled plans to spend about $13 billion through the end of the decade to make more Jeeps, pickups and Dodge SUVs in the U.S. Midwest. Among the company's plans is allotting $600 million to reopen an assembly plant in Illinois to expand production of its Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Compass for the U.S. market.

This production was scheduled to happen at a Stellantis plant in the Toronto suburb of Brampton, Ontario, according to Carney and the leadership at Unifor, the union representing Stellantis's Canadian workers. Stellantis had started to retool the Brampton factory to accommodate this work until it announced a pause in February. That factory employs roughly 3,000 workers.

Unifor said that under the terms of a 2023 labor agreement, Stellantis agreed to invest in its Canadian factories to help build next-generation electric and gas-powered vehicles under the company's Jeep brand.

A spokeswoman for Stellantis said it is moving production for one model from Canada to the U.S. "Canada is very important to us," the spokeswoman said, and "we have plans for Brampton and will share them upon further discussions with the Canadian government."

"We need the federal government to use Canada's leverage now to fight for our auto jobs," said Lana Payne, Unifor's president. "Governments cannot stand by while our jobs are shifted to the United States."

Carney met with Trump last week at the White House, where the two sides agreed to work on deals that might provide tariff relief for Canada's steel and aluminum sectors and provide increased energy security between the two countries. Trump has repeatedly said he wants automakers to move production from abroad to the U.S. for cars made for the American market.

 

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 14, 2025 21:51 ET (01:51 GMT)

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