More than 2,000 Brampton autoworkers have been laid off since Stellantis idled their plant. Its planned Jeep Compass went to Illinois. In October 2025 Ottawa halved Stellantis's quota of US-built vehicles free of Canada's 2025 tariff, citing broken commitments. The US points to such cuts in its case for the August 22 tariffs. Stellantis may sell the plant, and Unifor blames the plan for a bargaining impasse. President Trump has announced a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian cars for 2027.
In August 2026 Canadians paid 3 per cent more than a year earlier and lost 42,000 jobs. The Bank of Canada, which aims for 2 per cent inflation, held its rate at 2.25 per cent on September 2, its seventh straight hold. Cutting could feed inflation that is above target mainly because of gasoline, made costly by a Middle East conflict. Raising could cost more jobs while US tariffs, taxes on imports, hit exporters. It decides again on October 28.
Canadian and American importers are paying tariffs, taxes on imports, on billions of dollars of each other's goods. Some of that cost can reach shoppers. Canada suspended trade talks on August 21, 2026. Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke of 'walking away from a bad deal'. The U.S. trade representative says Canada 'walked away from a near-final trade deal'. Some measures are in force, others only scheduled or announced. U.S. bans on some Canadian goods are scheduled for September 29, 2026.
