PITTSBURGH – United Steelworkers (USW) International President David McCall issued the following statement today following President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would institute 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada:
“The USW has long called for systemic reform of our broken trade system, but lashing out at key allies like Canada is not the way forward.
“Canada has proven itself time and again to be one of our strongest partners when it comes to national security, and our economies are deeply integrated.
“The key to eliminating unfair competition, confronting global overcapacity in crucial sectors, and stemming the flow of unfairly traded products making their way into North America is targeted tariffs on countries that violate our trade laws and greater coordination with our trusted allies – not sweeping actions that undermine crucial relationships.
“Approximately $1.3 trillion worth of goods cross the Canada-U.S. border annually, supporting 1.4 million American jobs and 2.3 million Canadian jobs. These tariffs don’t just hurt Canada. They threaten the stability of industries on both sides of the border.
“Workers and their communities are counting on their elected leaders to make strategic decisions that help confront bad trade actors like China while at the same time fostering domestic manufacturing capacity.
“Our union calls on President Trump to reverse course on Canadian tariffs so that we can focus on trade solutions that will serve working families for the long-term.”
The USW represents 850,000 workers employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in health care, public sector, higher education, tech and service occupations.
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