U.S. President Donald Trump’s doubling of tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum is now in effect, duties that Canada’s industries say will create “mass disruption.”
The order laid out plans to increase the duties from their previous rate of 25 per cent, saying it was necessary for national security reasons and to bolster those industries in the U.S., but added that the original tariffs imposed in March didn’t have the desired effect.
There were no exemptions for Canada, but the U.K., which signed a new trade framework last month, will see its tariff rate remain at 25 per cent.
Canada’s steel and aluminum industries have warned that doubling the rate would have damaging impacts for producers and the North American supply chains.
About a quarter of all steel used in the U.S. is imported and Canada is its largest supplier.
“The steel and aluminum tariffs will apply only to the steel and aluminum contents of imported products, whereas the non-steel and non-aluminum contents of imported products will be subject to other applicable tariffs,” the White House said in reference to other countries.
The doubling comes slightly less than three months after Trump imposed the original rate, duties that were last seen during his first term in office on the same industries.
The initial impacts of those tariffs have led to cost increases for Canadian metals producers, with the industry saying the North American sector could face “unrecoverable consequences” if the doubling occurs.
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“Steel tariffs at this level will create mass disruption and negative consequences across our highly integrated steel supply chains and customers on both sides of the border,” the Canadian Steel Producers Association said in a weekend statement.
The Aluminum Association of Canada has called the situation “unprecedented.”
Industry Minister Melanie Joly said Sunday the federal government plans to prioritize Canadian steel and aluminum for federal contracts and the domestic defence manufacturing industry, which it plans to bolster with new investments.
“We are in a trade war and we know that our steel and aluminum workers are worried — we’re standing up for them,” Joly said during question period in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, was in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday and spoke with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in what he called a “positive conversation.”
“Every time we sit down … we deepen our understanding in terms of the concerns they have around so many of these issues,” he told reporters.
“It’s an opportunity for us to also explain to them our firm position in terms of these tariffs being negative for the Canadian economy and Canadian workers, but also for the United States.”
LeBlanc did not, however, say if a possible exemption would be provided for Canada.
— with files from Global News’ Sean Boynton and The Canadian Press
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