Yahoo Finance Ontario calls on Trudeau government to drop retaliatory steel and aluminum tariffs
The Ontario government is calling on Ottawa to drop the retaliatory tariffs it imposed in response to the U.S. tariffs on imports of Canadian steel and aluminum.
At a news conference on Monday, Ontario Trade Minister Todd Smith urged the Liberal government to “get down to business” and negotiate the removal of the hefty steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the U.S. administration last June. He said the Ontario government was concerned by the “lack of action” from the federal government on a trade dispute that has cost jobs and money for businesses across the province.
Smith said that Premier Doug Ford has suggested to the federal government that they remove the retaliatory tariffs Canada imposed in response to the U.S. decision as a first step in resolving the issue overall.
“These measures are having consequences on the competitiveness of Ontario’s industries, and reviewing Canada’s retaliatory measures may act as a means to persuade the newly-elected U.S. Congress and the U.S. administration to remove the U.S.-imposed steel and aluminum tariffs,” Smith said.
“The U.S. tariffs have resulted in negative impacts and job losses in the U.S. and in Ontario and in Canada and will continue to do so if they persist.”
Removing tariffs would equal ‘surrender’, say feds
The federal government was swift to dismiss the idea of removing the tariffs on Monday, with Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains issuing a statement saying the government has been working hard to pressure the U.S. to end the trade dispute.
“The Ford Government’s 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.”
The Canadian Steel Producers Association also disagreed with the Ontario government’s suggestion to remove the retaliatory tariffs, issuing a statement on Twitter in support of them. Catherine Cobden, the president of the CSPA, said in an statement that the retaliatory measures are “vital to protecting our businesses and our workers and must remain in place until 232 tariffs are lifted from Canadian steel.”
“We are calling on our federal and provincial governments to work together to support Canadian steel producers to remove these baseless U.S. tariffs,” she said.
Algoma Steel Inc., a producer located in Sault Ste. Marie, said on Twitter that the retaliatory measures are “a necessary and valued interim response” to the U.S. tariffs, but added that “a sustainable solution to address the 232 measures is needed.”
The Federal Government’s retaliatory action against the USA is vital in protecting businesses & #steelworkers. These measures represent an appropriate response to the baseless decision to apply a s.232 on #Cdn steel & should stay in place until the US lifts the tariffs on Canada.
— CDN Steel Producers (@CSPA_ACPA) February 4, 2019
With files from the Canadian Press.
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