Canada will hike U.S. steel tariffs if it can't make a trade deal next month, Carney says

John Paul Tasker · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 19, 2025 2:03 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Thursday caller measures to assistance stabilize Canada's alloy and aluminum sectors that person been hard deed by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs — with exports down and occupation losses up.

The caller national programme includes a quota connected overseas steel and a projected taxation hike connected U.S. imports if Canada and the U.S. can't scope a commercialized woody successful a month's time.

Carney said Canada's counter-tariffs connected U.S. alloy and aluminum products would spell up — oregon down, depending connected the negotiations with Trump — connected July 21.

Trump hiked the U.S. tariff complaint connected alloy and aluminum from 25 per cent to 50 per cent earlier this period and Carney, astatine the time, withheld matching that complaint spike fixed talks are ongoing to get Canada retired from nether Trump's tariffs.

WATCH | Carney announces caller measures: 

The 2 leaders agreed astatine the G7 acme successful Alberta this week to effort and scope immoderate benignant of commercialized woody wrong 30 days. With today's announcement, Carney is signalling he's consenting to spell higher with Canada's retaliatory tariffs if a woody doesn't travel together.

The Canadian tariffs connected U.S. alloy and aluminum imports volition beryllium acceptable astatine a complaint that's "consistent with the advancement that's made," Carney said. "We volition reappraisal our effect arsenic the negotiations progress."

Asked by a newsman if he's consenting to judge immoderate U.S. tariffs connected Canadian goods — Trump reiterated again this week he's a "tariffs person" and didn't look consenting to budge — Carney said the government's presumption is that Trump should bash distant with each of his "unjust" commercialized actions and that's the starting constituent of these negotiations.

Foreign alloy quota coming

Carney said he's establishing a caller "tariff complaint quota," arsenic it's called successful commercialized parlance, which means immoderate overseas alloy imports volition beryllium allowed but thing supra that bounds volition beryllium deed with a precocious tariff, making them much expensive.

The intent of this measurement is to marque Canadian alloy much competitory and prop up an manufacture that has mislaid a batch of its U.S. concern amid Trump's punishing tariffs.

The programme is designed to induce Canadian companies to usage home alloy by making overseas imports terms prohibitive.

"We indispensable reenforce our spot astatine location and safeguard Canadian workers and businesses from the unjust U.S. tariffs that beryllium astatine present," Carney told reporters connected Parliament Hill.

WATCH | 'I'm a tariff person,' Trump says astatine G7 gathering with Carney:

Carney said the authorities is considering additional tariff measures in the coming days to support much foreign steel retired and code what helium called "persistent planetary overcapacity and unfair trade."

That's successful effect to manufacture demands that the national authorities tamp down connected overseas companies dumping inexpensive alloy successful Canada, hurting section suppliers — a improvement the assemblage says has lone gotten worse since Trump levied planetary tariffs connected the metal.

Carney said the government's propulsion to get large infrastructure and earthy resources projects built rapidly volition besides assistance the struggling steel sector.

A pending authorities measure earlier Parliament, C-5, would springiness Carney's furniture the quality to fast-track approvals for "nation-building" projects, galore of which would necessitate immense quantities of alloy and aluminum during construction.

"We, arsenic Canadians, tin springiness ourselves acold much than the Americans tin ever instrumentality away. Steel and aluminum workers are connected the beforehand lines of this commercialized war. These workers volition assistance america physique one, beardown Canadian system — the strongest system successful the G7," Carney said.

The measures come "at the close time" and send "a beardown awesome towards focused and accelerated negotiations," said Jean Simard, president of the Aluminium Association of Canada, successful a statement.

He said that without a "positive" result by Carney's deadline, the manufacture volition question "agility and velocity for authorities interventions."