Automaker could lose over $2.6B due to U.S. tariffs as Brampton plant sits idle

Automotive manufacturing company Stellantis says its profits could drop by more than $2.6 billion USD due to tariffs on Canada introduced U.S. President Donald Trump, all while a Brampton plant sits empty.

Stellantis, the maker of Jeep and Ram vehicles, said earlier this week that estimates show a $2.68 billion USD net loss in the first half of 2025 due to U.S. tariffs and some hefty charges.

The company’s Brampton plant is currently spun down and has seen some 1,700 workers laid off since January 2024, when the plant started retooling to produce battery-electric and hybrid vehicles.

“As far as trades are concerned, zero tariffs is what we want and making sure the Brampton assembly plant is at the forefront, along with our auto industry as well

In 2023, the company said Brampton would “re-join the Jeep family” with the production of the next generation Jeep Compass. The union representing workers at the Brampton plant says it may take until “late 2026, even 2027” before the facility is up and running again.

“We do have confidence that we will build cars in Brampton…it’s just a matter of when,” Unifor Local 1285 President Vito Beato said in an update to members late last month.

“Our expectation is that our members are protected right through this whole retool,” which he says was originally slated to take 24 months.

If the retool takes longer than 24 months, the union will renegotiate with Stellantis.

“We’ll get through it, and we’ll get through it together,” he said.

Trump announced more trade deals this week, which will see Japan hit with 15 per cent tariffs, down from Trump’s proposed 25 per cent duties on imports to the United States.

Japanese vehicle imports to the United States may not be subject to the 25 per cent sectoral automobile tariffs, instead facing a lower 15 per cent rate, but the details of the deal were not immediately clear.

In a post on social media, Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, said that “any deal that charges a lower tariff for Japanese imports with virtually no U.S. content than the tariff imposed on North American-built vehicles with high U.S. content is a bad deal for U.S. industry and U.S. auto workers.”

The council represents the Big Three automakers — General Motors, Ford and Stellantis — which are being bludgeoned by 50 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum.

– With files from The Associated Press