Canada eyes further moves to counter foreign steel dumping

Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly said the government will soon announce measures to clamp down on steel dumping from foreign countries and help domestic manufacturers hit by punishing US tariffs.

“We cannot accept any form of unfair practices from different countries when it comes to our Canadian market. That’s enough,” she told reporters in Montreal on Wednesday. “We’ll make sure to take strong measures to protect our market.”

Canada already implemented 25% levies on Chinese steel and aluminum products last year, aiming to bring its trade policy closer to the US and shelter domestic producers from lower-cost products made in Asia’s largest economy.

Joly did not directly answer when asked whether new measures would target China specifically, or whether Canada was considering raising its tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum to 50% to match those of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

“We are in conversation as we speak with the steel CEOs and also with the labor movement,” Joly said, adding that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is looking at the “most effective” measures while avoiding “starting another trade war.”

China has imposed a 100% tariff on Canadian canola, along with a smaller duty on pork and seafood imports, in response to Canada’s tariffs, which also include levies on Chinese electric vehicles.

Carney spoke with Chinese Premier Li Qiang last week in a sign that the tense relationship between the two nations might be improving.

The industry minister also said her government is looking into how to help producers impacted by the US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.

“We will make sure that Canadian steel and aluminum is bought through our major infrastructure projects,” she said. “This is something that the industry and also people in the labor sector have been asking for years.”

ArcelorMittal SA, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and Algoma Steel Group Inc. are among Canada’s top producers. ArcelorMittal’s Canadian long products unit announced Wednesday it will permanently shut down a site in Hamilton, Ontario, affecting 153 workers, citing “persistent economic challenges, rising steel imports into Canada and market conditions.”

Carney has so far held back on further retaliatory measures since Trump hiked tariffs on foreign-produced metals from 25% to 50% last week. The Canadian prime minister has said officials are in “intensive” talks with the US about the trade relationship.

Canada is the largest foreign supplier of steel to the US, representing about 6% of the country’s consumption in 2024, according to MEPS International. It has a much larger footprint in aluminum, and is the biggest foreign seller of aluminum consumed in the US.

(By Mathieu Dion)