DETROIT — Stellantis is pausing production at two assembly plants in Canada and Mexico as the company attempts to navigate President Donald Trump’s new round of 25% automotive tariffs, the company confirmed Thursday.
The actions are the swiftest and most drastic by an automaker regarding the new tariffs, which took effect Thursday and are imposed on all vehicles imported to the U.S., including from Canada and Mexico.
The downtime starts Monday and is set for two weeks at the automaker’s Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada, and the entire month of April at its Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico.
As a result of the pause in production, about 900 U.S.-represented employees at supporting plants will be temporarily laid off in addition to about 4,500 hourly workers at the Canadian plant, according to a company spokeswoman. Workers at the plant in Mexico will still report to the facility but not produce vehicles due to their contract terms, the spokeswoman said.
In an email to employees Thursday, Stellantis North American chief Antonio Filosa said the plant downtime is tied to the tariffs, as the company reviews its options.
“We are continuing to assess the medium- and long-term effects of these tariffs on our operations, but also have decided to take some immediate actions, including temporarily pausing production at some of our Canadian and Mexican assembly plants,” Filosa said. “Those actions will impact some employees at several of our U.S. powertrain and stamping facilities that support those operations.”
The Canadian plant produces the Chrysler Pacifica minivan and the recently released Dodge Charger Daytona EV. The Mexico plant produces the Jeep Compass SUV and Jeep Wagoneer S EV.
Filosa said the “current environment creates uncertainty” but assured employees that the company, which continues to search for a new CEO, is “very engaged with all of our key stakeholders, including top government leaders, unions, suppliers and dealers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.”
