Wednesday July 16, 2025 | HAMILTON, ON
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends | Reporting from VICTORIA, BC
The use of Canadian-produced steel will be required for federal contracts.
Capital, workers and time are required to build the facilities and worker skills to build a growing Canada.
Steel production has been hampered in this country since the US imposed tariffs on steel. Until now, 90% of Canadian steel sales have been to the United States.
“We must focus on what we can control,” said Carney, pushing forward on his idea of diversifying the range of Canada’s trade partners.
“At this transformative moment, we are shifting from reliance to resilience – using Canadian steel to protect our sovereignty, grow our industries, export our energy, and build one strong Canadian economy. It’s time to build big, build bold, and build the strongest economy in the G7 using Canadian steel,” said Carney in his announcement today.
These are the two key points of an announcement today by Prime Minister Mark Carney at a steel-producing facility in Hamilton.
“We’re going to need a lot more steel because we’re going to build our country.” We are revinvesting in our ourselves in a critical moment, Carney professed.
Carney was accompanied by two members of parliament: Lisa Hepfner (Hamilton Mountain) who introduced the PM to the rom, and Karina Gould (Burlington).
Pivoting and building things fast is the direction that Carney outlined. “Our steel industry must advance, not retreat.”
A strong Canada starts with investing in key industries like steel, he said.
Imports, investment, big projects:
A suite of targeted measures were announced today “to stand behind Canada’s steel industry, protect Canadian careers, and invest in our homegrown industrial capacity to build Canada strong:, it was stated in the prime minister’s July 16, 2025 news release.
Referring to the federal government as “Canada’s new government”, the promise is to:
Restrict and reduce foreign steel imports entering the Canadian market
- As stated on June 19, 2025, Canada’s new government promised to review our tariff rate quotas for non-free trade agreement (FTA) partners in 30 days. To that end, the following changes to tariff rate quotas will take effect in the coming days.
- First, Canada will tighten the tariff rate quota levels for steel products from non-FTA countries from 100% to 50% of 2024 volumes. Above those levels, a 50% tariff will apply.
- Second, for non-U.S. partners with which we have an FTA, Canada will introduce a tariff rate quota level for steel products at 100% of 2024 volumes and apply a 50% tariff on steel imports above those levels.
- Existing arrangements with our CUSMA partners will remain the same, including no changes to our current trade measures with the U.S.
- The government is reviewing its remission framework to favour the use of Canadian steel and aluminum in Canadian-made products. Canada will reassess its existing trade arrangements with respect to steel, consistent with progress made in the bilateral discussions with the U.S. and taking into account broader steel negotiations.
- Canada will also implement additional tariffs of 25% on steel imports from all non-U.S. countries containing steel melted and poured in China before the end of July.
- These measures will ensure Canadian steel producers are more competitive by protecting them against trade diversion resulting from a fast-changing global environment for steel, creating more resilient supply chains, and unlocking new private capital in Canadian production.
Invest in Canadian steel workers and production
- Building on the enhancements to Employment Insurance (EI) and the EI Work-sharing, the government is investing $70 million in Labour Market Development Agreements to provide training and income supports for up to 10,000 affected steel workers. Through reskilling investments and increased worker supports, we will ensure workers have the skills and support they need to meet the future needs of the industry.
- To strengthen and ready the workforce to build a more resilient steel industry, Canada will provide $1 billion to the Strategic Innovation Fund to help steel companies advance projects that will increase their competitiveness within the domestic market, catalyze production of steel products not currently produced in Canada, and create jobs in sectors such as defence.
- The Business Development Bank of Canada Pivot to Grow initiative is being enhanced to provide support to eligible steel small and medium-sized enterprises facing liquidity challenges.
- The steel industry will be prioritized with $150 million as part of the government’s Regional Tariff Response Initiative through the Regional Development Agencies.
- Finally, the Large Enterprise Tariff Loan will be updated to expand eligibility and provide lower cost financing to firms in the steel industry. These changes will include reducing the minimum annual revenue requirement from $300 million to $150 million, reducing the minimum loan size from $60 million to $30 million, extending the loan maturity from 5 to 7 years, reducing the initial interest rate, and requiring companies to prioritize worker retention.
Prioritize Canadian steel to build big projects
- As the federal government delivers on its mandate to build major, national projects and millions more homes faster, we will ensure Canadian steel and other Canadian materials are prioritized in construction. We will also change federal procurement processes to require companies contracting with the federal government to source steel from Canadian companies.
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NEWS SECTIONS: CANADA-NATIONAL | TARIFFS & TRADE