LILLEY: White House celebrates steel investment as Canadians workers are laid off
· Toronto Sun
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On Tuesday, a new round of U.S. tariffs and product bans will hit Canadian exports, putting thousands of jobs at risk across the country.
Facing new 50% tariffs are goods such as specialty cheeses, furniture and mattresses. Facing bans are alcohol, motorcycles and whey products. Even before these new measures, the impact of the tariffs imposed by Washington was being felt.
At Stelco in Hamilton, about 500 steelworkers received layoff notices on Monday. Meanwhile at the White House in Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a massive new $15-billion steel plant to be built in Iowa, employing nearly 2,000 people once operational.
There was also an announcement about a multibillion-dollar iron ore mine in Minnesota that will supply the new steel mill. Inside the Oval Office, Trump and his team were jubilant.
“These are your 232 tariffs, the steel tariffs at work . Without those tariffs, this mine doesn’t get built and this steel plant does not get built,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.
Pain felt in Hamilton, elsewhere
Since Trump’s steel tariffs came into effect on countries around the world, steel production is up more than 6% there and jobs have increased by a few thousand. That growth is likely to accelerate as expansion plans ramp up.
“This is the Trump re-industrialization of America hitting the ground,” Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.
Meanwhile, those job losses in Hamilton are just the tip of the iceberg. Since January 2025, more than 4,000 jobs have been lost in Canada’s steel and metal fabrication sectors.
Steel is only the beginning. Other sectors are about to find themselves in Washington’s crosshairs as well.
The ban on motorcycles hits popular three-wheeled motorcycle brands such as Can-Am, which produces the Spyder and Ryker models that dominate the market in the U.S. The 2,500 people who work at its plant in Valcourt, Que., are more than a little worried as this ban takes effect.
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On the alcohol side , Moosehead, Canada’s oldest independent brewery, sells about 15% of its product to the U.S. The company has been dealing with a 50% tariff for the last month and has absorbed that cost itself. Come Tuesday, its product simply won’t be allowed across the border.
There is a loophole in the alcohol ban on Canadian products that allows products shipped in containers of more than four litres to be sold in the U.S. The likely goal is to move bottling jobs for Canadian whisky south of the border.
Despite all of this, Prime Minister Mark Carney isn’t looking to strike a deal with the Americans anytime soon. He’s busy cozying up to the European Union and trying to strike a free-trade deal with India.
Expanding trade with Europe and India makes sense, but neither comes close to replacing our biggest customer, the U.S. Carney has said he thinks there is a path to a deal, but also that he’s not actively seeking one or at least that’s what he’s telling the New York Times .
“Well, they want to have a deal with us. They call us all the time. The problem is that they’ve treated the United States very unfairly,” Trump said on Monday when asked about a deal with Canada.
Surrender not needed, just concessions
His claim of unfair treatment rings hollow when you consider that his tariffs violate the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on free trade, which he heralded as “the largest, most significant, modern and balanced trade agreement in history.”
Still, Canada isn’t faring well in this trade battle with the U.S. Finding a way to a deal that lifts or reduces tariffs, scales back the bans and gets us closer to normal would benefit us all, especially Canada.
Getting to that point doesn’t mean we need to surrender, though it might mean toning down the anti-American and anti-Trump rhetoric , while offering sensible concessions that will protect jobs in Canada.
The alternative is to keep this fight going, perhaps even escalate it, and watch more layoff notices land on workers’ doorsteps.
Trade fights make for good political theatre, but they don’t pay the mortgage for workers holding layoff notices.