Canada to limit foreign steel imports to help producers hit by U.S. tariffs
Prime Minister Mark Carney is taking action to crack down on the dumping of cheap foreign steel into Canada to help the country's big three steel producers reeling from U.S. President Donald Trump's 50-per-cent tariffs.
Mr. Carney in a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday said the government will limit steel imports from countries that don't have a free trade agreement with Canada to 2024 levels.
He said the move will 'stabilize the domestic market and prevent harmful trade diversion as the result of the U.S. actions that are destabilizing markets.'
Trump in early June doubled tariffs on steel imports to 50 per cent.
The Canadian Steel Producers Association, which represents 17 companies, including Algoma Steel Group Inc., Dofasco and Stelco, has repeatedly advocated for antidumping duties to help ease the pain of the U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel producers.
Algoma Steel Group Inc. chief executive Michael Garcia has argued on multiple occasions that mills from China, South Korea, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, the Middle East and Turkey regularly dump steel into Canada. That makes it nearly impossible for the company to compete in its home market at a time when the U.S. market has become unviable owing to Mr. Trump's tariffs. He pleaded for the government to immediately place anti-dumping tariffs on the offending countries.
Dumping is selling at an artificially low price to gain market share.
About 60 per cent of the domestic steel market is controlled by foreign producers.
Mr. Carney said that on July 21 Canada will adjust counter tariffs placed on U.S. imports of steel and aluminum to levels that will depend on how ongoing trade talks with the Trump administration are going.
When Mr. Trump first imposed 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian steel imports in March, Ottawa responded by imposing reciprocal tariffs on imports of U.S. steel. But Canada subsequently granted a tariff reprieve on some products coming from the U.S., including steel used in manufacturing and processing.
Earlier this week at the G7 summit in Alberta, Mr. Carney said that he and Mr. Trump had agreed to work on a deal that would see the trade war end within 30 days.
The government on Thursday also said that effective June 30 it will limit its steel purchases for federal projects to domestic producers and to foreign countries that provide reciprocal access to Canadian companies.
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