In the last week, the Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) recorded six lobbying exchanges with government authorities, including one with Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the US, on the impact of U.S. tariffs on the steel sector.
The Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) is the national voice of Canada’s $15 billion steel industry, representing companies that produce approximately 13 million tonnes of crude steel and over one million tonnes of steel pipe and tube products annually across Canada.
Prior to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to increase tariffs on steel and aluminum exports to 50%, which Mark Carney’s office deemed illegal and unwarranted, the discussions took place throughout May.
The office of the Canadian prime minister stated that it was in talks with the United States on the tariffs. The federal government claims that whatever money it receives from Canada’s retaliatory tariffs after the initial $90 billion, before remissions, would be used to support the recovery of Canadian companies.
Why is Canada calling Trump’s tariffs illegal now?
Trump’s initial round of 25% steel and aluminum levies, which were put into effect in March, have increased manufacturing prices and resulted in job losses.
According to CSPA President Catherine Cobden, Canada is one of the major exporters of steel and aluminum to the United States, and the tariff increase will effectively shut down U.S. commerce for Canada’s steel sector. In a news statement, she referred to the additional tariffs as a “further blow to Canadian steel that will have unrecoverable consequences” and urged on the Canadian government to take action.
Despite previous legal challenges, Trump issued his directive. A U.S. court declared the president’s unilateral Liberation Day tariffs illegal on May 28, but the White House appealed the ruling the next day, and the tariffs were reinstated for a minimum of one month.
What did Trump say about the “TACO” trade label?
Trump was questioned in the Oval Office that same day on a Financial Times journalist who dubbed his economic approach the “TACO” trade. The term “Trump Always Chickens Out,” or TACO, describes how the president threatens to impose tariffs on other nations but then backs off.
Trump snapped at the journalist. That is an unpleasant question. That’s the nastiest question, in my opinion, and he claims that his strategy of imposing and then removing tariffs is a clever negotiating ploy. The president imposed the additional steel and aluminium tariffs two days after being questioned about the TACO trade.
