USW leader: Punish China, not Canada
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
United Steelworkers union president Leo Gerard expressed anger and frustration Tuesday over growing trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada, saying the longtime allies should have a united approach to attacking China and other countries responsible for the troubled state of their steel and aluminum industries.
“Instead of fighting with each other, we should be fighting with the real culprits,” Mr. Gerard, the son of a Canadian union miner, said in a telephone interview.
The Sudbury, Ontario, native said he and others were shocked by President Donald Trump’s decision not to exclude Canada from the tariffs that he has ordered on steel and aluminum imports.
The duties went into effect in March, but Canada, Mexico and the European Union had been given a temporary reprieve. The White House decided to impose the duties on the nation’s most trusted allies beginning June 1.
Steel shipments from Canada, Mexico and EU member nations are subject to a 25 percent duty, while an extra 10 percent is added to the price of aluminum imports.
“The steelworkers believe in tariffs. We just believe they should be brought against countries that cheat,” Mr. Gerard said, adding that is clearly not the case with Canada.
Mr. Gerard heads a Pittsburgh-based union that represents 1.2 million workers and members in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. While thousands of USW members work for Alcoa, U.S. Steel and other steel and aluminum producers, the union also represents workers in the chemical, health care, oil, paper, rubber and other industries.
The USW president said there has never been a steel trade complaint involving the U.S. and Canada.
The U.S. has an overall goods and services trade surplus with Canada, including a surplus in steel trade, he said. And the countries have had a strategic trade alliance for defense purposes on steel and aluminum since World War II, Mr. Gerard added.
Canada was the largest source of imported steel last year, accounting for 17 percent of the 34.6 million metric tons of steel that U.S. buyers purchased, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. That amounts to about 6 million tons versus the 10 million tons the U.S. exports to Canada annually, Mr. Gerard said.