Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow went to the 2025 Mayors’ Trade Summit in Washington, as did the mayors of Windsor and Ottawa.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Mayors from across Canada, the United States and Mexico gathered in Washington on Friday for a trilateral summit to show a united front in their call for President Donald Trump to end his sweeping tariffs.
During the one-day 2025 Mayors’ Trade Summit, the 23 leaders – including Olivia Chow of Toronto, Drew Dilkens of Windsor, Ont., and Mark Sutcliffe of Ottawa – shared stories about how the tariffs are already affecting their communities and how they can support their constituents.
At a press conference after the summit in downtown Washington, Ms. Chow stressed the significance of North American mayors coming together in this moment. “During the summit, we expressed our fear, the fear of the price of everything going up ... of jobs lost,” Ms. Chow said. “But despite that fear, there’s a real sense of unity and hope to say that if we are together, and we know we are, we are strong.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump signed an executive order declaring imported cars a threat to national security and imposing tariffs as high as 25 per cent starting April 3. Some auto parts will also be taxed as of May 3 or later. Mr. Trump said he plans to launch on April 2 what he calls “reciprocal tariffs” on trading partners, which are an effort to match other levies and non-tariff barriers placed on U.S. goods.
The mayors who gathered Friday shared their concerns about the tariffs: the layoffs they’re already seeing, the rising prices and the uncertainty damaging their local economies.
“I know that President Trump cares about Michigan. I know that it was a state that he visited many, many times. I know that he has said personally how much he cares about the auto industry,” said Mayor Bryan Barnett of Rochester Hills, Mich., during the press conference. “I need to relay to the Trump administration how important these decisions are to the auto industry and to a state that supported him.”
Mayor Daniel Rickenmann of Columbia, S.C., said that Mr. Trump’s reciprocal tariffs could be devastating for his state’s economy. “Next week is D-Day for a lot of us. In my community alone, in the state of South Carolina, this could have a US$3-billion effect on our trade,” he said. He added that South Carolina is already seeing aluminum prices going up, and in nearby Kentucky, he said some distilleries have already laid off some workers owing to the Kentucky bourbon boycotts.
From the Mexican delegation, Mayor Luis Daniel Serrano of Cuautitlán spoke about how interlinked his city is with the automotive industry. Ford has been operating in Cuautitlán, just north of Mexico City, since 1964 and employs around 1,000 employees, according to its website. Through an English translator, Mr. Serrano said it is impossible to understand Cuautitlán’s history “without the Ford company. And at the same time, Ford’s history will not be understood without the participation of our locality.” He said his biggest concern is “losing employment.”
Mr. Rickenmann, the Republican mayor from South Carolina, called on the Trump administration to sit down with Canada and Mexico to negotiate a fair trade deal. “We can’t do it with threats. You have to do it with conversation.”
The delegation’s message was also directed to the U.S. Congress.
“We’re asking for our congressional leaders to stand up and stand with American families whose livelihoods are on the line,” said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
The mayors of cities with economies deeply rooted in the automotive industry expressed how their towns specifically could be hardest hit.
“We’re an automotive town, we have two assembly plants for GM,” said Mayor Andy Schor of Lansing, Mich. “We make on average $48,000 a year. If cars go up anywhere close to $10,000, you’re going to have people that cannot afford to buy cars.”
The delegation included politicians from across the political spectrum, which Mr. Schor said sent an important message that the threat of tariffs isn’t a partisan issue. “When you have Republicans and Democrats, when you have Canada and Mexico all standing together, I think that’s extremely powerful,” said Mr. Schor.
After the press conference, Ms. Chow said she saw Mr. Trump’s social-media posts about speaking with Prime Minister Mark Carney this morning, in which the President described the conversation as “extremely productive.”
“‘Productive’ is a good word. A better word is ‘No more tariffs,‘” Ms. Chow said. “I’m waiting for that.”