IAM Union: Working Families Will Pay the Price for U.S.-Canada Trade War
WASHINGTON, Sept. 9, 2026 — Brian Bryant, International President of the 600,000-member IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) and IAM Union Canadian Territory General Vice President David Chartrand issued the following statement in response to the collapse of U.S. and Canadian trade talks, coupled with steep tariff increases:
“As a result of President Trump’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on numerous Canadian goods—and further threats by administration officials to ‘ban’ Canadian goods—Prime Minister Carney announced that Canada will match the incoming U.S. tariffs ‘dollar for dollar.’ These new targeted counter tariffs are concentrated in sectors such as steel and aluminum, appliances, agricultural equipment, and pulp and paper —all industries that directly affect IAM members and their jobs.
“This administration’s decision to continue escalating attacks against Canada, and the resulting trade war that will ensue, is deeply harmful to working families on both sides of the border—with no winners. The threat to thousands of workers’ jobs will not help address the affordability crisis, nor will it ensure domestic manufacturing increases for the benefit of workers on either side of the border.
“This administration must, now more than ever, listen to labor and working people to develop a trade policy that centers U.S. and Canadian workers and brings the parties back from destructive brinksmanship.”
The IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) is one of North America’s largest and most diverse industrial trade unions, representing approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other industries across the United States and Canada.
