Trade Cases

Canadian steel industry calls for tariffs, evolution of trade tools

May 16, 2024

Following the announcement earlier this week that the US will hike import tariffs on Chinese goods, including steel and aluminum, Canada’s steel industry called on its government to consider similar tariffs.

“As our trading partners reinforce their trade remedy system with additional measures coupled with new tariffs and stronger laws, it is imperative that Canada keep pace and put in place new tools to defend against the rise in unfairly traded steel imports from China and elsewhere,” Catherine Cobden, the president and CEO of the Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA), said in a statement on Tuesday.

Cobden pointed out that Canada’s steel imports from offshore sources have doubled over the last 10 years, with “unprecedented levels of steel imports” continuing to plague the country.

CSPA said China is the third largest exporter of steel to Canada despite the country already having in place 18 trade measures against Chinese steel. China sent 660,000 metric tons of steel to Canada last year alone, the association said.

To remedy this, CSPA is urging Canada’s government “to immediately consider a comparable tariff approach and evolve our trade tools … to further align with the United States.”

Among the trade tools Cobden suggests are retroactive duties on unfairly traded goods, the adoption of greater anti-circumvention protections, and alternative trade remedy tools.

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. Since 2007, she has held various editorial and marketing positions with steel industry publications, associations, and mills. In 2021, after a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel trade journalism, joining SMU in 2022. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.