FRIDAY: Steelmakers and Steelworkers call on government to stand up for Canadian steel

WINDSOR, Ont. – United Steelworkers (USW) union members are joining with Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves and Zekelman Industries CEO Barry Zekelman in a rally in support of Canadian steel in Windsor on Friday, Oct. 10.

Steelworkers will be attending from USW Local 1005 in Hamilton and 8782 in Nanticoke, Ont.

In Canada, only 35% of steel used is sourced from domestic producers. Canada has one of the highest levels of steel imports in the world, a level that the USW calls unsustainable. The union is calling on the government for support to ‘repatriate’ the domestic market, which would help stabilize Canadian steel production and employment. 

Rally for Steel
Friday, Oct.10 at 1:00 p.m. ET
Corner of Banwell Road and E.C. Rowe Expressway in Windsor, Ont.

In response to tariffs and an import-dominated Canadian steel market, the USW has been calling for the following policy changes:

• Make ‘Nation Building’ Investments in domestic steel capacity: Invest strategically in industrial capacity, to make Canada more self-reliant, and in workforce development, with Strategic Response Fund dollars tied to sustaining and adding good steel sector jobs in Canada.
  
• Implement Buy Canadian and Buy Clean procurement policies across public infrastructure and defence procurement to prioritize Canadian-made steel.
  
• Introduce a Made-in-Canada tax credit to incentivize private-sector procurement of Canadian-made steel and manufactured products, strengthening domestic production and supporting good union jobs.
  
• Tight and Permanent Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) System: Make the TRQ program permanent and progressively tighten quotas to encourage import substitution and incentivize domestic supply. Maintain the stakeholder Steel Task Force Committee to regularly monitor import and TRQ data and provide feedback to the federal government.
  
• Bolster trade enforcement: Equip Canada Border Services Agency to track shifting trade flows, identify unfairly imported steel and investigate violations.
  
• Apply a robust melt-and-pour rule with strict certification and a 25% surtax to ensure that enforcement targets the true country of origin – not just where the steel is finished.
  
• Remove the U.S. remission exemption while raising Canada’s retaliatory surtax on U.S. steel to 50%.
  
• implement a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) so imported steel reflects its carbon footprint, creating a level playing field for cleaner Canadian producers.

About the United Steelworkers union

The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every economic sector across Canada and is the largest private-sector union in North America, with 850,000 members in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.

Each year, thousands of workers choose to join the USW because of the union’s strong track record in creating healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating better working conditions and fairer compensation – including good wages, benefits and pensions.
 
Find more information on how the USW is fighting back against tariffs here.

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