Jitters in Windsor After Stellantis Closes Car Plant

Fear and anxiety are running high in Windsor, Ontario, after carmaker Stellantis announced it will temporarily shut down its assembly plant in the Canadian border city next week as a result of US President Donald Trump’s car tariffs.

Derek Gungle, who is among the 4,500 people employed at the plant, says the temporary pause in operations was somewhat expected.

Still, he tells the BBC he worries about what’s to come.

It is a feeling that is echoed across Windsor, the heart of Canada’s automobile sector and just a bridge away from the US state of Michigan.

For decades, the two regions worked together across the shared US-Canada border to build some of North America’s most popular cars, like the Ford F-150.

Those working in Windsor’s auto sector who spoke to the BBC on Thursday say they are worried about the days ahead now that the US has implemented a 25 per cent tariff on all foreign-made vehicles.

For Canada, that tariff will be reduced by half for cars that are made with 50 per cent or more of components made in the US.

Christina, who has worked at the Ford plant in Windsor for 25 years, says “It’s absolutely terrifying.”

The mother of four says she fears her plant will also shut down like Stellantis.