Starting tomorrow, all Canadian steel and aluminum imports to the United States — including products from Algoma Steel — will be subject to a 25 per cent tariff.
U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened today to double that amount to 50 per cent, but eventually backed down.
As SooToday previously reported, Algoma Steel issued its own statement Tuesday afternoon, calling for "swift government action, at both the federal and provincial level to support Algoma and the Canadian steel and aluminum industries during this volatile time."
During an interview last week on our Inside the Village podcast, Algoma Steel CEO Michael Garcia spoke about the fact that Ottawa has yet to counter Trump with its own 25 per cent tariff on U.S.-made steel. As of now, only Chinese steel exported to Canada is hit with tariffs.
"Speaking as a member of the steel industry, I was a little disappointed that steel wasn't in the initial announcements of counter tariffs," Garcia said. "I understand that's because they wanted to wait until March 12 to see if there's going to be a next step in steel. But gosh, it really needs to be fast, because right now there's no tariffs other than the 25 per cent tariff on Chinese steel that was put in last fall."
"If I ship a product to the U.S., I'm paying a 25 per cent tariff," he continued. "If a steel company in the U.S. is shipping steel to Canada they’re not paying a tariff, and that is fundamentally unfair.”
Appointed three years ago to the top job at Algoma, Garcia is an American citizen who served in the U.S. army and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School.
“I really believe that free trade is part of what can make North America a fantastic, stable, prosperous part of the world, and I think that’s been shown if you look back over the last 50, 60, 70 years," he said on the podcast. "But it’s obvious that the current president has a different theory, and whether he came up with it on his own or whether he’s been influenced by certain academics or quasi-academics, he believes that there is something out of balance.”
Garcia said it's possible Trump truly believes Canada needs to do more to combat cross-border drug traffickers, and is threatening tariffs until action is taken.
"Or he believes that closing off the U.S. and putting a 25 per cent tariff on anything coming into the U.S. is what’s going to lead to the prosperity of the U.S. country, the U.S. economy, it’s going to lead to jobs," he said. "I don’t believe that. It certainly won’t happen in the short-term. There will be a lot of pain in the short-term. And I don’t even think it will lead to fundamentally rebuilding large sections of manufacturing in the U.S."
Although Garcia said he supports the current counter measures announced by the federal and provincial governments, he hopes they won't be needed for long.
"At the end of the day, what concerns me is Canada is much smaller than the U.S.," he said. "The U.S. can absorb a lot more pain than Canada can take because they're so much bigger. The entire economy of Canada, I think, is only as big as as the economy of Texas if you compare GDPs.”
“You have to stand up for yourself," he continued. "To use the schoolyard analogy, you have to stand up to a bully. But if that bully is five inches taller than you and outweighs you by 80 lbs, it's hard to stand up to a bully. You can stand up to him for a little bit, but you can't stand up to him for long. That's the one thing that worries me.”
You can watch Garcia's full interview HERE.
Hosted by Scott Sexsmith and Michael Friscolanti, the Editor-in-Chief of Village Media, Inside the Village is a news and current affairs podcast that provides a weekly window into some of the best local journalism from across our chain of Ontario newsrooms. Produced by Derek Turner, the program also explores bigger-picture issues that impact people across the province.
Every episode can be found HERE. If you prefer the audio version, it is available wherever you find your favourite podcasts.
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