Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced new measures he says are aimed at protecting Canada’s steel industry that include targeting metal that comes from China.
The new measures include restricting and reducing the amount of foreign steel imports entering Canada.
Countries without a free trade agreement with Canada are likely to feel the biggest change, with Canada changing its tariff-rate quota from 100 per cent to just 50 per cent of 2024 volumes.
Any imports that fall above that rate will also face a 50 per cent tariff.
Additional duties will also be imposed on 25 per cent of steel imports from all non-U.S. countries that contain steel melted and poured in China before the end of July.
Catherine Cobden, CEO of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, said China is an “egregious” overcapacity practitioner.
“Canada is taking direct aim at global steel overcapacities, and frankly, it’s a strong position, and I think will be applauded around the world. This is something that even the United States hasn’t yet done,” she said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
Industry Canada data shows more than $16 billion in steel imports in 2024, almost half of that from the U.S., and about 10 per cent from China. Canada exported more than $12 billion in steel, 91 per cent to the U.S., and four per cent to Mexico.
But it’s not just countries without an agreement, non-U.S. partners that have a trade deal will face a quota of 100 per cent of 2024 volumes, with a 50 per cent duty applied for anything above that level.
“The trade actions of the United States are further transforming global steel market dynamics and supply chains,” Carney said. “Let’s be clear, Canada will be one of the countries most impacted by these developments.
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“Moving forward, we must diversify our trade relationships and above all, we must rely more on Canadian steel for Canadian projects and those shifts start today in an increasingly unpredictable and unreliable world.”
He told reporters there are no immediate plans to change counter-tariffs on the U.S.
Carney also said his government would reassess all existing trade arrangements with respect to steel “consistent” with ongoing negotiations with the U.S.
All steel-related negotiations the U.S. is undertaking with other countries will also be taken into account, Carney said, “because what happens in those will affect what happens here.”
The prime minister said when countries face high tariffs in the U.S., products like steel are then pushed into Canada.
“One of the consequences of those very high tariffs is it pushes product, steel in this case, and their derivatives into a Canadian market that has historically been quite open,” Carney said. “So it’s important that we protect our market from those secondary effects, if you will, from the U.S. negotiations.”
The prime minister also underscored his previous comments that Canada would ensure Canadian steel and other materials would be prioritized in construction of major, national projects.
Before Carney’s announcement, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said the Liberals have fumbled trade with the U.S., saying Canada has no gains to show for its concessions, such as boosting border and military spending while killing a tax on Big Tech firms.
“We’re facing a disappointment, where Mr. Carney is not at all delivering the great negotiating prowess he had himself invoked to get elected,” he said in French on Parliament Hill.
Blanchet suggested Carney has been too focused on passing his controversial major-projects legislation.
“He has not given the trade issue and the tariffs issue enough interest to get any kind of results so far,” Blanchet told reporters in English.
“He has renounced and made compromises on many things so far, without achieving anything in the (deadlines) he had himself created and announced.”
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Carney also announced various training initiatives and innovation funding.
Up to 10,000 steel workers impacted by the ongoing trade war will receive training and income supports through $70 million in funding.
Another $1 billion will also be put towards the Strategic Innovation Fund to help steel companies.
The announcement Wednesday comes more than a month since U.S. President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25 to 50 per cent.
It also comes slightly more than a week since Trump announced non-CUSMA exempt Canadian goods would face a tariff of 35 per cent starting Aug. 1.
On Tuesday, Carney said negotiations with the U.S. would “intensify” as the Aug. 1 date draws near, but also told reporters it was unlikely any deal would not include some tariffs.
– With files from The Canadian Press
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