Ontario premier criticizes Trump after Stellantis says it will move
production from Canada to the US
[October 16, 2025] By
ROB GILLIES
TORONTO (AP) — The leader of Canada's most populous province called for
economic retaliation on the U.S. after auto company Stellantis said it
was moving planned production of its Jeep Compass from Canada to the
U.S.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford blamed U.S. President Donald Trump for the
company's decision this week to shift production of the SUV from
Brampton, Ontario, to Illinois as part of plan to invest $13 billion to
expand its manufacturing capacity in the United States.
The comments come as Canada is negotiating to reduce tariffs. Trump has
been urging the Big 3 American automakers to move production to the U.S.
“That guy, President Trump, he’s a real piece of work,” Ford said. “I’m
sick and tired of rolling over. We need to fight back."
Ford said Canada needs to hit back with tariffs if Prime Minister Mark
Carney can't reach a trade deal with Trump.
Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, is in
Washington this week for talks to reduce tariffs on certain sectors.
Carney left Washington last week without a deal.
Carney said the move by the world’s fourth-largest carmaker was a direct
consequence of tariffs and his government would work with Stellantis to
create new opportunities in the Brampton area. Carney added that Ottawa
expects Stellantis to fulfill its commitment to Brampton workers. The
federal government threatened legal action against the company.
Federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said the production shift is
“unacceptable” and warned Stellantis made commitments to Canadian
production in exchange for substantial financial support.
"Anything short of fulfilling that commitment will be considered as
default under our agreements,” Joly wrote in a letter to the company
chief executive.
Fear has spread in Ontario over what will happen to Canada's auto
sector. Autos are Canada’s second-largest export and Carney has noted
the sector employs 125,000 Canadians directly and almost another 500,000
in related industries.
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A transport carrying new cars arrives at a Stellantis facility July
10, 2023, in Belvidere. Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
 “Stellantis is bowing at the Trump
administration with this pledge of massive investments in the U.S.,”
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown told the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation.
“If this bullying tactic works with Stellantis I expect it to be
replicated to every other automaker that has a presence in Canada
and frankly other sectors that the U.S. has an interest in.”
Workers at the Stellantis assembly plant in Brampton were greeted
Wednesday with a robocall from their employer that said work they’d
been waiting for wouldn’t be coming back. The company closed the
factory in 2023 and laid off its roughly 3,000 workers as it
retooled the facility.
Stellantis said it would reopen its Belvidere Assembly Plant in
Illinois to expand U.S. Jeep production, creating thousands of new
jobs there.
Vito Beato, president of Unifor Local 1285, which represents the
Brampton plant workers, said the news came as a surprise because
Stellantis had said previously it was committed to producing its
Jeep Compass in Brampton.
Stellantis said it continues to invest in Canada, including adding a
third shift to the Windsor, Ontario assembly plant, and that it is
in talks with the government on the future of the Brampton facility.
Carney won the country’s election earlier this year fueled by
Trump’s annexation threats and trade war, but has tried to improve
relations ahead of a review of the free trade deal next year. More
than 75% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S. and Canada recently
dropped many of its retaliatory tariffs to match U.S. tariff
exemptions for goods covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada
trade pact.
Ford said Canada should start responding to Trump's tariffs with its
own harsh measures.
“That’s the only thing that this person understands,” Ford said of
Trump. Ford is scheduled to meet with Carney this week.
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