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Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a suite of new measures to help Canada’s steel and lumber sectors that have been battered by U.S. tariffs, including financial assistance and tightening up the Canadian market from foreign products.
According to a press release from Carney’s office, the federal government is taking a swing at foreign steel imports from countries that have a free trade agreement with Canada as well as countries which do not.
For countries without a free trade agreement, Canada is tightening their tariff rate quotas for steel products from 50 per cent to 20 per cent of 2024 levels.
A tariff-rate quota refers to a limit on the quantity of a product that can be imported at a lower duty. In other words, countries that don’t have a free trade agreement with Canada can bring in less steel at lower tariff rates.
During a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, Carney said the move could open up more than $850 million in domestic demand for Canadian steel.
WATCH | How one of Canada’s oldest steel producers is fighting for survival:
How Algoma Steel is fighting to survive Trump’s tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on steel has one of Canada’s oldest steel producers fighting for survival. CBC’s Nick Purdon was in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., to see how Algoma Steel is pivoting to keep the business running and its employees working.
For countries that have a free trade agreement with Canada — but excluding the United States and Mexico — the federal government is reducing their quotas for steel products from 100 per cent to 75 per cent of 2024 levels.
During a technical briefing for reporters before the announcement, an official from the federal government said tightening quotas rather than levelling a straight tariff helps Canadian companies transition away from foreign steel while ensuring some supply still comes in.
The federal government also announced it will end the temporary remission of Canadian tariffs on imports for steel used in Canada for manufacturing, food and beverage packaging and agricultural production.
That temporary remission will end on Jan. 31, 2026, according to the press release.
Canada will also impose a global 25 per cent tariff on specific steel-derivative products like wind towers, prefabricated buildings, fasteners and wires.
Lumber supports, freight rate subsidy
For months, provinces like British Columbia and New Brunswick have been calling on Ottawa to provide more support for their softwood lumber industries, which are currently struggling in the face of a 45 per cent tariff imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Now, Canada will earmark $500 million in funding under the large enterprise tariff loan facility to support lumber firms facing liquidity pressures, the press release said.
The federal government is also providing an additional $500 million to the Business Development Bank of Canada’s softwood lumber guarantee program and establishing a single window for companies to submit applications to support programs.
WATCH | B.C. Premier David Eby calls for support from Ottawa:
B.C. premier calls on Ottawa to treat lumber tariffs as national emergency
B.C. Premier David Eby says Canadian lumber now faces higher tariffs going into the U.S. than lumber from Russia, and the higher tariffs going into effect must be treated by Ottawa like a national emergency.
In August, the federal government announced $1.2 billion in federal support for the softwood lumber industry. CBC News has reached out to several government departments to clarify if those supports have been distributed yet.
According to the press release, the federal government is also pushing railway companies to cut freight rates for transporting Canadian steel and lumber interprovincially by 50 per cent, beginning in the spring.
Carney said the federal government will achieve this goal by sending funding to Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City. A government official at the technical briefing estimated the cost will be about $146 million for one year.
Tariffs and turmoil
The country’s steel and aluminum producers have been caught in the crosshairs of trade tensions between Washington and Ottawa this year.
Trump slapped 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in March, then doubled those tariffs to 50 per cent in June.
WATCH | Trump calls off trade talks with Canada over Ontario anti-tariff advertisement:
Trump says all trade negotiations with Canada are terminated
U.S. President Donald Trump says that all trade talks with Canada are terminated in a post on his Truth Social platform. He cited a complaint by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute about a ‘selective’ clip of Reagan talking about tariffs in an ad by the Government of Ontario.
More recently, Trump abruptly called off all trade talks with Canada, noting his displeasure with an ad from the Ontario government that used president Ronald Reagan’s own words to spread an anti-tariff message to an American audience.
Trump said Carney subsequently apologized to him about the ad.
Despite that, talks with the U.S. still haven’t been “revived,” Carney told reporters earlier this month.
