Carney hints retaliation is coming for Trump's latest steel and aluminum tariffs

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government will take “some time but not much” to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum that came into force today. “The latest tariffs on steel and aluminum are unjustified, they’re illegal, they’re bad for American workers, bad for American industry, and of course for Canadian industry as well,” he told reporters Wednesday morning as he was entering his caucus meeting. Carney said Canada currently has counter-tariffs in a gross amount, before remissions, on over $90 billion of U.S. imports, and said those remain in place. But given the devastating impacts these new tariffs will have on Canadian industries, there is pressure to retaliate. “We are in intensive discussions right now with the Americans on the trading relationship. Those discussions are progressing,” said Carney. “I would note that the American action is a global action, it’s not one targeted at Canada, so we will take some time but not more before responding,” he added. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said it was his understanding Canada is “close to making a deal” with the U.S. but said he would still like to see retaliatory tariffs. On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive ordering raising U.S. tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports from 25 per cent to 50 per cent starting at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. The move deals a significant blow to a key Canadian export, with industry groups warning that steel and aluminum producers are reeling from the noticeable drop in American imports. More than 90 per cent of Canada’s steel and aluminum is exported to the United States, according to 2024 federal government statistics. “They are illegal. These make no sense. They’re hurting the Canadian-American relationship terribly,” said Terry Sheehan, the Liberal MP for Sault Ste. Marie—Algoma which is home to Algoma Steel, of Trump’s latest tariffs on steel and aluminum. Sheehan said he is encouraging the government to fight back like it did in 2018, when Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on steel and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminum imports, to cause maximum pain for the Americans and minimum impact on Canadian industries. “We’ve got to continue to hit back hard, and I will encourage that and then make sure that every dollar is used to support my workers and my steel industry,” he said. Peter Fragiskatos, the Liberal MP for London Centre, said he has also been hearing from industries in southwestern Ontario and said “there’s deep anxiety, to say the least.” In his executive order, Trump once again accused foreign countries of offloading lower priced steel and aluminum into the American market, undercutting the domestic industry. “In my judgment, the increased tariffs will more effectively counter foreign countries that continue to offload low-priced, excess steel and aluminum in the United States market and thereby undercut the competitiveness of the United States steel and aluminum industries,” it read. — With files from Christopher Nardi, Antoine Trépanier and Stephanie Taylor.  More to come… National Post calevesque@postmedia.com Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.