Hamilton’s steel sector could take hit
Hamilton’s steel industry could take a major hit under new U.S. Department of Commerce recommendations to impose trade restrictions on steel imports for reasons of national security, Hamilton’s Chamber of Commerce says.
Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump — under NAFTA and the World Trade Organization rules — asked the American Department of Commerce to investigate his claim that national security was being compromised by steel imports.
Normally recommendations from the department back to him would not be disclosed to the public.
However, in this case, they were released Friday leading some to believe it was tactic in the overall NAFTA negotiations taking place. As it is, Trump has 90 days to decide what to do.
“Our members within the steel industry are considering these proposals one of the most critical competitive threats to their operations in decades. With a highly integrated supply chain between Canada and United States, we simply cannot afford a disruptive trade and tariff war between our countries” said Keanin Loomis, president and CEO of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce.
Three options were put forward to Trump from the U.S. Commerce Department:
• A global tariff of at least 24 per cent on all steel imports from all countries;
• A tariff of at least 53 per cent on all steel imports from 12 countries (Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, India, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam) with a quota on specific product steel imports from all other countries equal to 100 per cent of their 2017 exports to the United States; • A quota on all steel products from all countries equal to 63 per cent of each country’s 2017 exports to the United States.
Huzaifa Saeed, policy and research analyst from the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, says the chamber believes there will be a negative impact on the Hamilton Steel sector no matter what option is chosen.
The second option might not sound as severe, he said, but it would act as a wall against any upward fluctuations in future sales that could cause some companies to move parts of their Canadian operations to the U.S. to avoid the limitation.
A spokesperson from ArcelorMittal Dofasco and Stelco could not be reached.
Hamilton East-Stoney Creek MP Bob Bratina, who is on the Parliamentary steel caucus, said he believes none of the options will be chosen because they would have the political fallout of higher consumer costs for Americans.
“What I am hoping is cooler heads will prevail and the right thing will be done because the risk to Americans is that it will raise consumer prices,” he said.