Steel and aluminum industry groups in Canada are, once again, bracing for the threat of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump said he will formally announce 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports on Monday, including for Canada and Mexico.
Trump made the comments on a press conference aboard Air Force 1 as he travelled to New Orleans to watch the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
“We are deeply concerned that US President Donald Trump is again threatening more tariffs on Canada, this time directly targeting the steel and aluminum sectors. While the details remain unclear, we will analyze the President’s order once it is released and have more to say at that time,” Catherine Cobden, president and CEO of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, said in a statement.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce said the uncertainty around tariffs is detrimental to businesses and consumers in both Canada and the U.S.
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“At a time when affordability and inflation are top of mind for Americans and Canadians alike, adding new taxes and costs simply doesn’t make sense,” Matthew Holmes, the executive vice president of the Chamber, said.
“We’ve seen estimates that with these tariffs could drive up the price of an average car by thousands of dollars. Our Canada-U.S. Trade Tracker analysis makes it clear: tariffs will put jobs on both sides of the border in peril,” he said.
Stéphane Dion, the Canadian ambassador to France, said Canada and European countries are working on a cohesive strategy to address tariff threats from the United States.
“Canada and Mexico are the first ones, but Europeans know that they may be targeted as well. We’re anticipating that. They are working with us about how can we have a cohesive way to convince the US administration that trade wars are painful for everyone… and not something that you should do between friends.”
This would not be the first time Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. Cobden said the last time Trump imposed tariffs on Canada in 2018, they caused “massive disruptions and harm on both sides of the border, hurting both America and Canada.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said that he would implement matching tariffs on American steel and aluminum if he was prime minister.
Speaking in Iqaluit, Poilievre said that money collected by counter tariffs would go back to Canada’s steel and aluminum industry, with any surplus used for broader tax relief.
However, when asked about high food prices in the north Poilievre said he’d put “every penny” collected by counter tariffs into lowering taxes.
The Canadian Steel Producers Association said the $20 billion worth of steel trade between the two countries is an example of how integrated the Canada and U.S. economies are.
Trump imposed steel and aluminum tariffs at 25 and 10 per cent respectively during his first term in March 2018 using national security as justification.
Canada was initially given an exemption to these duties, but was ultimately hit by the tariffs on May 31, 2018. Canada responded with a series of counter-tariffs on American products like Florida orange juice.
Nearly a year later, on May 17, 2019, the White House announced a deal had been reached to prevent “surges” in the steel and aluminum supplies from Canada and Mexico, ending the trade dispute.
–with files from Canadian Press
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