General Motors Co. will cut a shift at the automaker's Oshawa, Ontario, truck plant this fall in response to President Donald Trump's trade war with Canada, the company said Friday.

The Detroit automaker cited lower demand and the "evolving trade environment" in its decision to pare down manufacturing at the plant, which builds Chevrolet Silverado light-duty and heavy-duty trucks. Trump enacted a general 25% tariff on Canadian imports, with some exceptions.

"These changes will help support a sustainable manufacturing footprint as GM reorients the Oshawa plant to build more trucks in Canada for Canadian customers," the company said in a statement. About 700 hourly workers will be affected, GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly said in a statement.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford in a post on the social media site X said the cuts will be "extremely tough" for the Oshawa workers, "hardworking people who have helped build Ontario’s auto industry."

"In the face of economic uncertainty caused by the chaos of President Trump’s tariffs and tariff threats, we will continue to fight every single day to attract new investment, secure good-paying jobs and support workers and their families," Ford said.

GM in 2021 announced a $280 million Canadian investment at the Oshawa Assembly Plant to support high demand for trucks. The company had halted production at the plant in 2019.

Canada in turn poured $259 million into GM in 2022 to bolster both the Oshawa plant and the CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll, which makes commercial electric vehicles.

Canadian union Unifor, which represents the country's Detroit Three autoworkers, called on Canada's federal government to reconsider GM's current tariff-exempt status in response to the shift cut.

“GM Oshawa was reopened thanks to the hard work of our members and significant investments by the federal and provincial governments based on a promise to maintain good jobs and production,” Chris Waugh, Unifor GM Oshawa Assembly Plant chairperson, said in a statement. “We will not sit idly by as that promise is eroded one shift at a time.”

GM spokesperson Jennifer Wright said in an email that the automaker is "fully committed to fulfilling its obligations with governments."

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