Mayor of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., urges 'supports now' amid concerns steel tariffs to double

The mayor of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., says U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to double tariffs to 50 per cent would severely impact the operations of Algoma Steel, which is a big employer in the northern Ontario city.

Mayor Matthew Shoemaker told CBC Radio on Monday that Trump's plan, announced late Friday, "doesn't make any sense." 

The president initially imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada on March 12. Ottawa announced a plan to levy tariffs on $29.8 billion worth of American goods, almost immediately after the U.S. levy on metals was pushed through.

As for Trump's latest plan to boost those tariffs to 50 per cent, effective this Wednesday, Shoemaker said, "This would have a huge effect on Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie and its local workforce of 2,500.

"To put it bluntly, I thought that this is a response to him [Trump] getting criticized for chickening out on various previous iterations of tariffs.

"It seems like in my opinion, he's doing something now to prove he is a person who sticks to his word. Not only sticks it, that goes even further than it makes sense to do so," Shoemaker said.

Shoemaker stressed how difficult it would be to operate with tariffs at 50 per cent.

"I've had discussions with our MP, member of provincial parliament and the steel plant over the course of the last two days, and we're trying to map out a path forward," he said.

"The requests will come for support from the upper levels of government because 50 per cent steel tariffs means we're not selling steel to more than half of their customer based, which is in the U.S."

'A more negative effect'

Shoemaker said that when Trump put in 25 per cent steel tariffs in 2018, during his first term as president, it didn't help the economy in the United States.

"It gained about 1,000 jobs in the steel industry and it lost 75,000 jobs elsewhere in the economy because the American made lawn mowers were no longer competitive because of the increase in costs," he said.

"I don't think it's going to have the intended effect. Yes, he might be able to tout the 500 jobs added to this steel mill or 1,000 jobs were added at that steel mill, but it's going to have an overall more negative effect on the economy than it will a positive."

Shoemaker said he's looking to the provincial and federal governments for assistance.

"They promised that they would support the workers affected by tariffs.

"So this is their chance. They have to prove their seriousness and their nimbleness to be able to do so because it's not something that we can wait six weeks to find out what the impacts are. We need supports now."

The MP for the area, Terry Sheehan, said the new tariffs are "arbitrary, illegal and completely unjustified."
"Our government will not back down," he said.

"We will fight, protect and invest. Every dollar collected through counter-tariffs will be reinvested directly into supporting our steelworkers and strengthening our industry."