Steelworkers welcome ruling on steel dumping, urge greater enforcement and genuine industrial strategy

CONTRECOEUR, Que. – Syndicat des Métallos/United Steelworkers union leaders in Quebec are praising a Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) decision to maintain duties on steel rebar dumped into Canada by foreign producers.

Following an “expiry review” of an order initially imposed in October 2020 regarding foreign dumping of concrete reinforcing bar (rebar), the CITT has decided the order must be renewed. The tribunal found that allowing the 2020 order to expire would likely result in injury to domestic producers of steel rebar, which is used in the construction of bridges, buildings and other infrastructure.

The decision means the Canada Border Services Agency will continue to impose anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports of rebar from China, Korea and Türkiye, as well as the subsidizing of such products from China.

The decision came following evidence presented to the CITT by Steelworkers’ union activists, in particular from representatives of workers at the ArcelorMittal steel plant in Contrecoeur-Ouest, Que. This marked the latest of several successful cases where Steelworkers’ activists have provided compelling evidence to justify action to combat the dumping of unfairly traded foreign products into the Canadian market.

While welcoming the CITT decision, the Steelworkers union continues to urge the federal government to allocate greater resources to effectively prevent foreign dumping and to finally adopt a genuine industrial strategy to secure our domestic steel industry’s future.

“Now, for this (CITT ruling) to be effective, we need to be just as vigilant at the borders against steel dumping as we are against fentanyl,” said Éric Piette, President of Steelworkers Local 6951, which represents nearly 300 workers at the ArcelorMittal plant in Contrecoeur-Ouest.

There is an urgent, ever-growing need for decisive government action to defend a domestic steel industry in crisis, said Nicolas Lapierre, Steelworkers union Quebec Director.

As another alarming blow to the steel sector, Lapierre pointed to the announcement by ArcelorMittal that it will indefinitely suspend operations at its steel plate mill in Côteau-du-Lac, Que., in August.

“We’re starting to see a real downturn. It’s time for governments to implement a genuine industrial policy to secure our steel industry’s future. Canada consumes more steel than it produces. We must prioritize consuming the steel that we produce. Governments must act now, before it’s too late,” Lapierre said.

“So far, the government’s approach has been too mild. We need to tighten border controls against dumping, establish a genuine industrial strategy and prioritize our domestic steel production, which is greener and generates lower greenhouse gas emissions.”

The Syndicat des Métallos/United Steelworkers, affiliated with the Quebec Federation of Labour, is the largest private-sector union in Quebec, representing more than 60,000 workers in all economic sectors.

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