Stellantis partially suspends production in Canada and Mexico

(AFP) Stellantis announced Thursday that it will suspend production at some plants in Canada and Mexico, the first disruptions since US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on foreign-made vehicles.

The move by the company that owns Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge will directly affect thousands of workers.

"The immediate steps to be taken include temporarily halting production at some of our assembly plants in Canada and Mexico, which will affect several of our U.S. engine production and stamping facilities that support these operations," the company detailed.

As of Thursday, cars manufactured outside the U.S. are subject to a 25% surcharge and customs duties of the same magnitude on replacement parts will gradually come into effect.

Stellantis, the world's fifth-largest automaker, announced it will close its Canadian plant in Windsor, which employs about 4,000 people, starting Monday for two weeks, "primarily" because of these customs tariffs, a spokesman for the group said Thursday.

Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, said Thursday he stands "in solidarity with Windsor workers and all those affected by President Trump's tariffs."

Carney also announced retaliatory measures of 25% tariffs on all cars imported from the United States but not part of the T-MEC trade deal (which includes Mexico), about 10% of all vehicles shipped from the United States to Canada, some 67,000 a year.