Carney curbs steel imports to prop up industry hard hit by Trump's tariffs

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Thursday new measures to help stabilize Canada's steel and aluminum sectors that have been hard hit by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs — with exports down and job losses up.

The new federal program includes a quota on foreign steel and a proposed tax hike on U.S. imports if Canada and the U.S. can't reach a trade deal in a month's time.

Carney said Canada's counter-tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum products would go up — or down, depending on the negotiations with Trump — on July 21.

Trump hiked the U.S. tariff rate on steel and aluminum from 25 per cent to 50 per cent earlier this month and Carney, at the time, withheld matching that rate spike given talks are ongoing to get Canada out from under Trump's tariffs.

The two leaders agreed at the G7 summit in Alberta this week to try and reach some sort of trade deal within 30 days. With today's announcement, Carney is signalling he's willing to go higher with Canada's retaliatory tariffs if a deal doesn't come together.

Carney said he's establishing a new "tariff rate quota," as it's called in trade parlance, which means some foreign steel imports will be allowed but anything above that limit will be hit with a high tariff, making them more expensive.

The purpose of this measure is to make Canadian steel more competitive and prop up an industry that has lost a lot of its U.S. business amid Trump's punishing tariffs.

The program is designed to induce Canadian companies to use domestic steel by making foreign imports price prohibitive.

"We must reinforce our strength at home and safeguard Canadian workers and businesses from the unjust U.S. tariffs that exist at present," Carney told reporters on Parliament Hill.