Canada among countries watching U.S. in suspense as Tuesday tariff deadline hits
The United States was keeping its trading partners in suspense Monday, with steel and aluminum tariffs scheduled to snap into effect at midnight barring any new announcement.
Canada has particular reason to be watching closely: it’s the No. 1 supplier of both materials to the U.S.
Canada is hoping to win another exemption, along with Mexico, as all three countries continue their efforts to negotiate changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Tariffs were previously scheduled to hit weeks ago, but President Donald Trump issued orders delaying them until May 1. A White House official says the only thing that could stop them again is a new presidential order.
“Absent any additional presidential proclamation, all tariffs would go into effect at midnight,” the official said.
“So in order for the exemptions to be extended or made permanent, a new proclamation would have to come from us like the original ones did.”
Canada’s position is that neither tariffs — nor the alternative of quotas — makes economic, legal or military sense. Trump’s A coil of steel is moved by a crane at the Direct
Essar Steel Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. legal justification for such tariffs is “There’s no jurisdiction on the that reliance on foreign metals planet that has a better case for threatens American national sea full exemption than Canada,” curity. said Joseph Galimberti, president
Canada has argued that it has of the Canadian Steel Producers been supplying metals to the U.S. Association. military for generations, that its “We source our raw material imports and exports of steel are from the U.S. We do extensive balanced, and that it is working business with the U.S. We have with the U.S. to keep over-procomparable costs (on salaries). duced Asian steel out of North We are in no way, shape, or form America. unfair trade ... There’s not a hint
It’s also unclear how tariffs that we do anything along the would affect the heavily intelines of state subsidies ... We have grated auto industry, where the been their partner in addressing same piece might criss-cross the global overcapacity ... border multiple times. “I could go on and on and on.”