“It’s not happening,“ Gray told AFP in Oshawa, an industrial city roughly 60 kilometres (37 miles) east of Toronto.
Hundreds of thousands of workers across southern Ontario whose jobs are tied to auto-making have endured turmoil in recent weeks, as Trump has threatened a range of tariffs that industry experts warn could force mass layoffs.
But over the last month, he said, people have grown “sick of being antagonized.”
“We’re not going to lose one single auto job in Ontario,“ he told AFP, vowing to physically prevent car companies from removing equipment from Canadian plants if necessary.
Like many industries caught up in Trump's trade war, the future of Canada's auto sector is unclear.
The actual levy on vehicles assembled in Canada could be lower given North America's highly-integrated manufacturing process, with individual parts crossing the border several times during assembly.
Trump also held what he described as an “extremely productive” first call on Friday with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who took over from Justin Trudeau on March 14.
Speaking before details of the Trump-Carney call emerged, auto worker Robert Romano said the uncertainty was breeding division.
“I’m not sure he knows what his plans are. But we are a trading partner... Building cars in North America has always been a US-Canada bond and now it’s pitting everybody against each other.”
Romano noted that General Motors has “been a staple in this community forever.”
The local hockey team, which is part of a development league for teenage professional prospects, is named The Generals, after General Motors.
The industry in the city of some 200,000 people has seen various setbacks, including job losses over the past two decades.
“We’re not interested in second careers. We’re not interested in action centers that will help us with resume building because that ship has sailed,“ he told AFP.
“We are auto workers. We are 100 percent interested in our jobs.”
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