The Spectator sits down with Bill Morneau to talk steel //
The federal government is planning safeguards — that could include quotas and additional tariffs — to protect domestic steelmakers from an influx of foreign steel diverted from the U.S. because of tariffs imposed by Donald Trump.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau was in Hamilton Tuesday to announce a 15-day consultation period to discuss options to deal with imports of steel plate, concrete reinforcing bar, energy tubular product, hot-rolled sheet, prepainted steel, stainless steel wire and wire rod. He met with local business leaders in a closeddoor session to discuss ways to help Canadian companies become more competitive.
Morneau talked with The Spectator about the federal government’s strategy to deal with American steel tariffs.
Q. What is your sense of how much steel is being diverted to Canada since the U.S. tariffs came into place?
A. We’ve seen some evidence of increasing amounts of imports in some categories ... The intent of the process, going through the consultation, is to make sure we have a full understanding of the amount of any steel that’s coming to Canada as a result of the U.S. tariffs. We’ll be in a better position to conclude with actions, once we get through that consultation
process.
Q. What are the options to deal with this once the consultation is complete?
A. Once that’s done, our next step will be to determine whether we put safeguards in place to restrict the amount of imports that come into the country. The range of options obviously includes ... quotas or tariff-rate quotas. Those are the options under consideration. But we need to go through the process, to hear from the producers, to actually ascertain what’s going on in the market, and to understand
from workers impacted and from users of the steel about what the impacts would be.
Q. How will the consultation work?
A. It’s a 15-day consultation period. We are seeking input from interested parties. Of course once that happens, anything we would do would be provisional and it would go to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal to review in more depth ... to ensure we’ve got to a conclusion that makes sense.
Q. What is the purpose of (Tuesday’s) meeting in Hamilton?
A. I’m here both because we wanted to announce those products that we are looking at but more broadly I’ve been across the country talking to businesses, talking to Canadians about the need to maintain a competitive environment in Canada . ... There are some key issues that people are bringing up and I am anxious to hear what the people ... are thinking. Some of the key issues I am hearing across the country are concerns around ensuring we remain able to export successfully around the world. Obviously, NAFTA is an immediate issue but there is also a question of how do we diversify our trade so Canadian businesses can be successful around the world ...
Q. What about Canadian construction companies that are having to pay a lot more for American steel because of retaliatory tariffs in Canada?
A. We know the tariffs are not helpful. They are not helpful for Canadians. They are not helpful for Americans. They are not going to help Canadian businesses. They are not going to help American businesses ... we are responding with measured and proportionate tariffs as a result of the American imposition of tariffs on us. We can’t tell the Americans what to do ... we need to work with them to try to get them to a more appropriate situation. The challenges facing consumers of American steel (in Canada) are very real. What I suspect is likely happening is ... they are looking to Canadian producers to see if they can actually produce the products they need.
Likely in some cases they are able to find substitute producers here. In other cases, I’m sure (steelmaking) businesses in Canada are looking at new opportunities and they are retooling to provide some of things that they hadn’t been providing because they may not have had a comparative advantage previously.