U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday doubling the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50 per cent, a move one Canadian industry official warned would have “unrecoverable consequences.”
The new rate will take effect at midnight, according to the order.
“Although the previously imposed steel and aluminum tariffs have helped provide critical price support in the United States market, they have not yet enabled these industries to develop and maintain the rates of capacity production utilization that are necessary for the industries’ sustained health and for projected national defence needs,” read the order, which was published online after global markets closed.
“I have determined that increasing the previously imposed tariffs will provide greater support to these industries and reduce or eliminate the national security threat posed by imports of steel and aluminum articles.”
The move deepens the threat against industries in Canada’s two largest provinces: Ontario as a steel-production hub and Quebec is a major global aluminum producer.
In a statement, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office said the United States had no legitimate reason to double its tariffs.
“The additional tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum announced today by the United States are unlawful and unjustified,” it read.
It said the government is going through “intensive and live negotiations” to have the tariffs removed as part of a new economic relationship with the United States. It also reiterated plans to remove interprovincial trade barriers to strengthen the domestic economy as retailers and consumers look to move away from American goods — a strategy the prime minister has promised to carry out by July 1.
During question period in Ottawa this week, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said she had spoken with industry officials in both provinces about the need for Canada to spend on materials within its own borders.
“We’ll use Quebec and Canadian aluminum steel in our infrastructure projects,” Joly said in the House on Monday. “We’ll create and protect jobs and we’ll defend ourselves against this injustice from the White House.”
Trump’s new tariff threat ‘punch in the gut’ to Canada’s steel industry: CSPA
The head of the Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) said Saturday increasing tariffs would “create mass disruption and negative consequences” across the supply chain and affect customers in both countries.
“This latest announcement from the Trump administration is a further blow to Canadian steel that will have unrecoverable consequences,” read a statement from CSPA president and CEO Catherine Cobden.
The U.S. first imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada on March 12. Almost immediately after the levy on metals came through, Ottawa announced a plan to retaliate with tariffs on $29.8 billion worth of American goods.
Canada is the United States’ largest steel supplier, making up nearly a quarter of all its imports in 2023.
