Steel group calls for government to step in to protect industry as U.S. tariffs jump

By Canadian Press on June 4, 2025.

TORONTO — The head of Canada’s steel industry association says time is of the essence for the federal government to step in and help the industry as it faces existential threats from U.S. tariffs.

U.S. President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50 per cent starting Wednesday, a punitive level that Catherine Cobden, head of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, says will essentially shut down exports to the country.

Cobden says the industry had hoped for a last-minute reprieve, but when that didn’t happen companies were forced to halt trucks already on route because exporting to the U.S. no longer works financially.

She says that under the 25 per cent tariffs in place since March 12, the Canadian steel industry has already lost about 700 jobs and shipments were down 30 per cent in April, but the 50 per cent tariffs threaten the very existence of the industry that had been shipping half of its production to the U.S.

She says the Canadian government needs to step in with higher border tariffs of its own to protect the industry from artificially cheap steel imports originating from China.

Canada did put in place 25 per cent tariffs last October on steel and aluminum products coming directly from China, but Cobden says the tariffs need to be expanded to cover steel melted and poured in China but that was processed further in other countries.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025.

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press