2 days ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
On a Hamilton factory floor, Carney pitches new steel plan — but ‘we need more,' says executive
A Hamilton steel fabricator says Ottawa still isn't going far enough to shore up Canada's battered steel sector — even after the prime minister showed up on the shop's floor to make the pitch.
Walt Koppelaar, executive vice-president of Walters Group Inc., welcomed the multipronged
federal package announced
by Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday, but said the government needs to go further and shut the door on fabricated steel imports from 'bad actors.'
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to reporters at Walters Group Inc. on Wednesday morning. Carney announced a multi-prong package to support the Canadian steel industry at the East Mountain facility.
Carney unveiled the plan at Walters' Rymal Road East facility, using the family-run fabricator as a backdrop while flanked by federal ministers, steel industry leaders and Walters employees.
The package includes caps on imported steel, stiff tariffs if those caps are exceeded, prioritizing the use of Canadian steel in government procurement and $70 million in new funding over three years to help steel workers get retrained.
'Steel is the very foundation of Canada. We will need much more of it to launch the projects of national interest that will unfold over the coming decades,' Carney said in French, speaking at a steel fabricator on the East Mountain.
But the prime minister said that Canada needs to overcome 'immediate challenges' in the industry, including 'foreign competition that unfairly benefits from nonmarket policies and practices.'
'And now, the trade actions of the United States are further transforming global steel market dynamics and supply chains. Let's be clear: Canada will be one of the countries most impacted by these developments,' Carney said.
The import caps are based on the levels other non-U.S. countries exported to Canada in 2024.
For countries that have an existing free trade agreement with Canada, the cap is 100 per cent of 2024 imports, with a 50 per cent tariff applied on steel above that cap.
For countries which don't have a free-trade agreement with Canada, the cap drops to 50 per cent. A 50 per cent tariff will also be applied to all imports surpassing those levels.
The new tariff rate quotas are expected to kick in by the end of July, after the Carney government signalled last month that changes were on the way.
A 25 per cent tariff will also be applied to all steel imported from non-U.S. countries that was melted and poured in China.
Walt Koppelaar, executive vice-president of Walters Group Inc., speaks Wednesday morning at the East Mountain facility.
Back in March, Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, increasing those tariffs to 50 per cent in June.
Koppelaar told reporters that he is hopeful that additional measures will come down the pipeline to help support Canadian steel fabricators.
'We need more,' said Koppelaar. 'What we're looking for is to stop the imports from bad actors.'
Koppelaar noted that in the years prior to the trade war with the United States, roughly 70 per cent of the steel fabricated by the company was exported to the country — those exports have since nosedived to 'near zero.'
'It's tough,' said Koppelaar, who noted that the company has not laid off any workers as a result of the trade war. 'We are focused on the Canadian market, and we're going to do everything we can to keep the folks busy here.'
Koppelaar noted that if the federal government were to shut out those imports, there would be 'enough work' in Canada to keep domestic steelmakers and fabricators — including Walters Group — afloat.
The Spectator reached out to local steelmakers Stelco and ArcelorMittal Dofasco for comment on the announcement made by Carney on Wednesday, but did not receive comment from either company before deadline.
Keanin Loomis, president and CEO of the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction, called the package a 'huge improvement' over measures announced by the federal government just a few weeks ago.
That announcement included the creation of a steel task force to directly engage industry members in coming up with policy improvements, noted Loomis, adding that the group has met with the government several times since.
'It's clear that they are listening and refining our approach to how we deal with this moment,' said Loomis, who noted in a separate statement that there is 'still work to be done' to support the industry.
Still, Loomis praised the government for their move to prioritize the use of Canadian steel in the construction of major, taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects.
'We can meet all of the needs of the domestic infrastructure needs that we have here in Canada,' said Loomis. 'We have enough fabrication capacity in this country from coast to coast.'
Loomis added that ensuring Canadian steel is used in national infrastructure projects will also benefit local communities, such as Hamilton, which has already
felt the impact of steel tariffs
— echoing comments made by Carney during the press conference.
Carney told reporters that prioritizing Canadian-made steel in 'nation-building projects' will have an 'enormous multiplier effect' across the country, with those benefits feeding back into the sector as well as the communities 'as a consequence of that strength.'
—With files from the Toronto Star
