OTTAWA: Canadian steel city of Hamilton, coping with months of uncertainty as U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened a potentially devastating 25 percent duty unless the North American Free Trade Agreement is renegotiated. Canadian negotiators are weighing the interests of the relatively small sector, responsible for about 22,000 direct Canadian jobs and C$9.0 billion ($7.0 billion) in U.S. exports, against those of bigger industries like auto manufacturing and politically influential groups like dairy farmers. “I don’t think we’re at the end of it.
But ArcelorMittal’s Dofasco mill, coking and finishing operations at Stelco, and a collection of smaller operations still directly employ 10,000 people in Hamilton. The North American steel industry is heavily integrated, with raw materials, steel and parts crossing the U.S.-Canadian border several times before a finished product such as a vehicle or refrigerator is sold to consumers. About 65 percent of the Hamilton port’s tonnage is iron ore and coal used to make steel.
Hamilton, the port president, said one steel company called after Trump first signaled the tariffs on March 1, when it was unclear whether Canada would be exempt at all. The firm wanted to know if the agency might be willing to take over management of its warehouse and find different cargo to fill it. Hamilton Chamber of Commerce President Keanin Loomis, a former Washington lawyer, is part of a new generation in the city who have never worked in a steel mill.
But like much of the city, he has a personal connection to steel, a father-in-law retired from the Dofasco mill. If a tariff is imposed, Loomis expects imports to lower domestic steel prices, potentially driving some employers south of the border, where tariffs are expected to boost prices. Loomis said high labor costs, environmental regulations and a looming carbon tax already make it difficult for the steel industry to compete.
