Prime Minister Mark Carney also introduced a fund to invest in domestic steel projects.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that Canada will introduce a tariff rate quota on countries it has free trade agreements with, excluding the United States, in order to protect its domestic steel industry.
Carney announced the new measures on Wednesday.
The plan includes a 50 percent tariff that will apply to imports from relevant countries that surpass the 2024 volumes, though Canada will honour existing arrangements with its United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade partners, Carney said.
Canada will implement additional tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports from all countries containing steel melted and poured in China before the end of July.
Carney is responding to complaints from the domestic industry, which had said that other countries are diverting steel to Canada and making the domestic industry uncompetitive due to US tariffs. The Canadian steel industry had asked the government to introduce tougher anti-dumping measures to protect the domestic industry.
US President Donald Trump increased import duties on steel and aluminium to 50 percent from 25 percent earlier this month. Canada is the top seller of steel to the US.
Carney also said domestic steel companies would be prioritised in government procurement, and he introduced a fund of one billion Canadian dollars ($730m) to help steel companies advance projects in industries such as defence.
“These measures will ensure Canadian steel producers are more competitive by protecting them against trade diversion resulting from a fast-changing global environment for steel,” Carney said on Wednesday.
For countries without free trade agreements with Canada, the government lowered the tariff-free quota to 50 percent of 2024 volumes from 100 percent previously. Above the quota, imports will also face a 50 percent tariff.
Catherine Cobden, president and CEO of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, in an interview with broadcaster CBC, said the timing wasn’t sufficient for domestic steelmakers confronting a crisis.
“This is something we should have been doing all along, but it’s fantastic to see that we are making progress,” Cobden said.
In a separate statement, Canadian steel maker Evraz said it has filed a complaint against steel imports from Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea, Turkiye and the US, against unfairly priced imports of oil country tubular goods.
