TRUMP LAUNCHES TRADE WAR

CANADA hits BACK with levies on $16.6B worth of U.S. goods

Bill Edwards just wants the hard work he and more than 1,000 other steelworkers do every day to be appreciated.

After four decades at the plant north of Regina, Edwards has seen pretty much everything the steel business can offer. He said new tariffs on steel imposed by the United States government undercut his colleagues’ best efforts.

“We’re one of the best steelmakers in the world. Make it a level playing field, and we’ll compete with anybody,” he said hours before the 25 per cent duty was to take effect.

Employees at Evraz North America PLC’S steel plant are worried about the effects of escalating trade actions, according to United Steelworkers (USW ) Local 5890’s president.

“We’ve got orders that go down to the States, and we don’t know how this is going to affect us … It’s going to cause a lot of unrest with the people on the floor,” Mike Day said Thursday afternoon.

“It’s hard not to worry. They’re going to go to work and they’re going to do their job; it’s just a matter of, what’s going to come? What’s going to happen in the near future?”

Canada has been exempt from the 25 per cent tariff on nonu. S. steel — as well as a 10 per cent duty on aluminum — since it was imposed in March, but that exemption is set to expire today.

Hours before that deadline, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland retaliated by unveiling $16.6 billion worth of trade “countermeasures” on a long list of American products.

U.S. commerce secretary Wilbur Ross — who was courted by former premier Brad Wall last year — said the decision was made based on the slow pace of North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations.

Saskatchewan ships about $90 million worth of iron, steel and aluminum south of the border each year — a small fraction of all of the province’s exports to the U.S., which topped $16 billion last year.

Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership CEO Chris Dekker said the steel industry — which Evraz dominates — is responsible for thousands of direct jobs, and countless more indirect ones.

“These steps toward a possible trade war will not be beneficial to anyone; indeed, throughout the years, throughout the decades, these have been proven to harm both economies,” Dekker said.

Evraz spokesman Christian Messmacher said the company is disappointed in the American government’s decision because Evraz’s products are critical to U.S. national security and infrastructure.

“Limiting imports could actively disrupt the U.S. manufacturing industry’s supply chain for various products, including pipelines, armoured plates, construction equipment and railroads,” he said in a statement.

Premier Scott Moe said he plans to bring up the issue when he goes to Washington, D.C., next week on a prearranged trip to meet with members of congress and three senior members of the Trump administration.

Speaking with reporters in Regina, Moe stopped short of speculating on how effective the trip will be given the broader context of NAFTA renegotiations, but emphasized that it’s important to “engage” with U.S. counterparts.

“These are not productive times, when we have tariffs going both ways.”