The U.S. Biden administration has slapped major tariffs on a wide array of Chinese-imported goods and technology, including steel products.
The Canadian Association of Steel Producers is demanding Ottawa do the same against Chinese-manufactured steel products being dumped in this country.
The 13-member industry group, of which Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie is one, said Canada is seeing “unprecedented levels of steel imports” in the domestic market with foreign-dumped steel from China doubling over the last decade.
The group said Canada has 52 steel-related trade measures on Indo-Pacific countries, 18 levied against China. Still, China remains the third largest importer of steel into Canada with more than 660,000 tonnes last year.
The U.S. measures focus on Chinese-made electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar cells, medical equipment, steel and aluminum products. The tariffs will be phased in over three years. On steel and aluminum, American tariffs against Chinese products will climb 25 per cent this year.
Canadian steel producers are urging the federal government to consider a “comparable tariff approach” and use trade action tools such as “retroactive assessments on unfairly traded imports” and other remedies that align with U.S. measures.
"As our trading partners reinforce their trade remedy system with additional measures coupled with new tariffs and stronger laws, it is imperative that Canada keep pace and put in place new tools to defend against the rise in unfairly traded steel imports from China and elsewhere," said Catherine Cobden, president-CEO of the Toronto-based steelmakers group, in a news release
"While we are the largest user of Canada's trade remedy system, imports continue to flood our country despite existing anti-dumping measures, putting Canadian jobs and investment at risk."