A representative for the Canadian steel industry says he worries that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs are here to stay for the “long term” as he urged the federal government to strengthen Buy Canadian rules to support the industry.
Speaking at the Senate’s foreign affairs committee Thursday, John Cuddihy, a vice president with the Canadian Steel Producers Association, said the American steel industry has profited greatly from Trump’s trade war with Canada.
And Cuddihy said he doesn’t anticipate the situation changing any time soon.
“The underpinnings of the current situation suggest that tariffs could be with us for awhile,” said Cuddihy.
“From a financial perspective, where the United States is at suggests it may be difficult for them to remove tariffs across the board. So in terms of treating the world as it is as opposed to how we’d like it to be, as we look at the world we’re anticipating that tariffs will be … in play for the long term. ”
Cuddihy declined to answer questions about the impact of U.S. steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs decision to lay off roughly 350 employees at Hamilton’s Stelco plant.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney accused the U.S. company of “betraying” Canadian workers and suggested federal funds were available to keep employees working at the Hamilton plant.
But Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves told Global News in an interview that “no amount of money” would’ve changed the factors that led to the company’s decision.
“There’s no market in Canada for the amount of galvanized steel we produce in Canada. We need to export … to the United States,” said Goncalves, who has supported U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Goncalves denied his support and donations to Trump played a factor in his decision.
“I have been in this business for 45 years, so I have worked with so many different persons, Republicans and Democrats. Trump, then Biden, then Trump,” Goncalves said.
He also denied that he was holding out for a better financial support package from the Canadian government.
“I did not ask for a blank cheque to the tune of billions with no conditions, that’s absolutely wrong,” Goncalves said.
On Monday, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly sent Stelco president Paul Simon a letter detailing “extreme disappointment” in the company’s layoff plans, noting that Cleveland-Cliffs takeover of Stelco in 2024 was conditional on maintaining the number of unionized and non-unionized employees.
Those conditions remain regardless of “business strategy or market conditions,” Joly wrote.
With files from Global’s Colin D’Mello and the Canadian Press.
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