First of all, it would be devastating to the entire industry.
There's not an assembly plant in Canada that will survive a 25% tariff, because almost everything we build goes to the United States. There's no way we can say that the effect will be marginal, because just the opposite will be true.
The question becomes what do we do. We have to retaliate. I realize that's a focus of some concern amongst some of those on this panel. Ultimately, I take a look at what the United States is doing. When they first imposed tariffs on softwood lumber we didn't do anything, and now they're having a devastating impact. When they slapped tariffs on paper we didn't do anything. When they came after our aerospace sector—which surprisingly and fortunately got settled in U.S. courts—we didn't retaliate. Now it's steel, now it's aluminum, now it's cars, and now it's auto parts. Doing nothing didn't change Trump's course of events. As a matter of fact, the less we did in the beginning, the more it has left us vulnerable to more tariffs.
Now we're in a situation where we have to fight. There is just no other way. We can't sit back and say, “Let them keep slapping us with tariffs.” As ridiculous as it sounds because it is ridiculous, we're going to have to be as punitive as the United States is.
What can I say to our members who are going to be negatively impacted? We are going to have to make sure that the federal government puts into place significant programs today to ensure that we not only survive the short term but also the long term. We can't have the death of our number one industry in Canada. It's an $80 billion a year industry. If you take a look at the direct and indirect jobs, you're looking at about half a million jobs there alone.