According to local Canadian news, the government of Ontario is urging legislators at the nation’s capital to “surrender” in the trade war with the US, which has had several negative effects on the steel and aluminum industries in Canada.
Ontario’s Economic Development and Trade Minister Todd Smith told media on Monday that the federal government must immediately lift its retaliatory tariffs against the US, which were imposed after the US set 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum tariffs, even from long-term trading partners like Canada and Mexico.
“We want tariffs removed on both sides of the border when it comes to steel and aluminum,” Smith said, adding that he sent a joint letter with Quebec Minister of Economy and Innovation Pierre Fitzgibbon to Ottawa.
In the letter, the provincial ministers demanded “the permanent removal of any and all tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.”
The letter added, “At the same time, it is important that Canada not agree to an outcome that would see other trade impediments such as quotas continue to restrict trade and hamper the competitiveness and growth of Canadian industry.”
However, Federal Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains said there are no plans to capitulate. “The…call for Canada to unilaterally and unconditionally remove its counter-tariffs would equal unilateral surrender to the Americans,” Bains said. “The reciprocal tariffs are critical to pressuring the Americans to end this dispute once and for all.”
“While we’re standing up against illegal US tariffs and supporting steel and aluminum workers in Ontario, Doug Ford’s government is nowhere to be seen.”
The Canadian Steel Producers Association sided with the federal government in a tweet: “The federal government’s retaliatory action against the USA is vital in protecting businesses and steelworkers,” the association said. “These measures represent an appropriate response to the baseless decision to apply (tariffs) on Canadian steel and should stay in place until the US lifts the tariffs on Canada.”