“Stab

For more than a century, a member of the Lawton family has been working in the automotive industry in Canada.

Catherine Lawton and husband Chad also work for the Windsor carmaker, the heart of the Canada automotive sector, only a bridge away from the US state of Michigan.

Her children are a “fifth generation of Ford workers,” she says.

So when US President Donald Trump suggested Canada steal the US automotive industry, Chad Lawton calls him “ridiculous.”

“These were never American jobs. These were Canadian jobs,” he told the BBC, the day the Trump rates came into force.

“They have always been Canadian jobs and will remain Canadian jobs because we didn’t take them from them. We created them, we maintained them.”

Catherine agreed, “This is Ford City here.”

Stossed in the southwestern Ontario, Windsor finds himself on one of Trump’s front lines of the Trump trade war.

It faces a 25% tariff for foreign vehicles – halved for cars made with 50% components manufactured in the US or more – as well as a 25% American blanket for steel and aluminum imports.

American auto parts tariffs are expected next month.

The region of just over 422,000 is increasing with Detroit, a nickname Motor City, for its role as a car production center – making the region an important automotive production center in North America.

Ford first established its presence at Windsor in 1896, while the first Stellantis factory (then Chrysler) arrived in 1928, with dozens of factories and suppliers emerging around the city and the surrounding region in the coming decades.

Much of the production has left the city since then, although it still boasts two Ford engine factories and Stellantis assembly factory, which employs thousands.

Workers on both sides of the border have built emblematic vehicles over the decades, as soon as models such as the Dodge Charger and the Ford F-150.

About 24,000 people work directly in the automotive industry in Windsor-Essex, while approximately 120,000 other jobs depend on the sector.

Traveling through the neighborhood around the Ford factory feels like a back in time, showing a classic bungalows of the last century. Many have seen better days, although everyone can boast a porch and a small front courtyard. The large murals celebrating the city history of the car refine the landscape.

Windsor has endured the challenges of the North America automotive sector with Michigan as the industry shares a deeply integrated supply chain.

Chad Lawton pointed out the financial crisis in 2008, when large three US car manufacturers – Ford, General Motors and Chrysler – were confronted with striking losses, and GM and Chrysler received billions in the US rescue to avoid bankruptcy.

This period was “bad, not only for the next door, but we also went through a very, very rough time,” he said.

“This feels the same. The level of anxiety with the workers, the level of fear, the idea and the belief that it is just something that is so completely beyond your control that you cannot envelop your head around what to do.”

John D’Anolo, President of Unifor Local 200, who represents Ford workers in Windsor, said the situation “had caused a defeat”.

“I think we’ll see a recession,” he said.

He continued: “People will buy nothing. I have to tell their members not to buy anything. They have to pay rent and food for their children.”

What makes the tariffs such a difficult pill to swallow car workers with whom the BBC is talking to is that this situation is caused by the closest economic and security of the United States into the closer ally of Canada.

“It looks like a break in the back,” says the 27 -year -old Austin Welzel, a collection worker at Stellantis. “It’s almost like our neighbors, our friends – they don’t want to work with us.”

Christina Grossi, who has been working in Ford for 25 years, said the prospect of losing her job and what it would mean to her family was “horrifying.”

But d -g, Grossi is also afraid to lose the meaning he receives from his work.

“You do this work for so long and you are really proud of it. You are proud of what you expose to the public,” she said. “And now someone takes away the opportunity to do it.”

Laura Dawson, CEO of the Future Borders Coalition, said tariffs could cause major cataclysms throughout the sector due to their deep integration, with pulsation effects being felt on the entire continent if the exports from Canada stop for more than a week.

She said the structure of tariffs in the US was extremely complicated.

Cars crossing the border will need any component to be evaluated for “qualified content” – where it originates, the cost of labor for its production and – if it contains steel or aluminum – where does this metal come from.

“Every part of the car is literally under a microscope for where it is manufactured and how,” she said.

US tariffs are a major factor in the common elections in Canada, which is on April 28, with political parties in Canada deploying packages of plans on the traces of the campaign to help the automotive sector.

Liberal leader Mark Carney, current Prime Minister, has promised to set up a $ 2 billion fund ($ 1.4 billion; $ 1.1 billion) to increase the competitiveness and protection of manufacturing jobs, along with the plans for the construction of an All-Canad automatic components.

In his role as Prime Minister, he imposed $ 35 billion last week in counteracting car rates, in addition to the reciprocal measures announced for the United States.

Carney’s main rival, conservative leader Pierre Polver, swore to remove the sales tax on Canadian vehicles and set up a fund for companies affected by rates to help keep their employees.

Jagmeet Singh, whose Left New Democratic Party is fighting for a competitive place in Windsor, has promised to use every dollar from counter -tariffs to help workers and stop manufacturers from moving equipment to the United States.

However, Windsor’s economy depends on car manufacturers and relies heavily on trade with the United States. If it breaks down, everything from restaurants to charity organizations – will feel the effects.

The indicative box is a sports bar right on the road from the Stellantis plant and popular with workers there.

“We are one of the busiest restaurants. I don’t want to say it, but if you ask around the penalty area, they will tell you,” said his 70-year-old owner, Van Niforos. “We make nearly 1000 meals a day.”

With a white apron and a wide smile, he tells his 33-year story. But his behavior darkens when he asks him for the threats that the automotive sector faces.

“It’s a devastating situation. I don’t want to think about it,” he said.

“We hire 60 people and are open six days a week. (If something happens to the Stellantis plant), will we be able to keep 60 people?

Chad Lawton, sitting in his office in the local union, took a deep breath as he thought about how insecure his life was.

He does not think that Carney’s counterparts help the current situation, arguing that “they just make a really bad situation a little bit more.”

He hopes there was a place for commercial negotiations, but said he would be the first to say that Canada “can’t just give way and turn.”

“I’ve worked for Ford Motor for almost 31 years and I’ve never seen anything close to it,” he said.

“This includes Covid, because at least with Covid, we understood what we were doing. And there was some certainty.”

“This is all over the map.”