If the objective of US President Donald Trump is to create “fear and confusion” with his last tariff threat, he is successful in the “city of Steel in Canada,” says Frank Crowder, a president of the Hamilton Union.
“It scares us, scares families,” said Crowder, president of United Steel Workers Local 7135. “We have no way of being prepared. The US government is only creating chaos.”
Approximately 90 percent of Canada’s steel and aluminum exports go to US companies, according to statista data. Hamilton is home to about 28,000 advanced manufacturing jobs, which include jobs in the steel sector, according to the local Chamber of Commerce. That is approximately 20 percent more than the national average.
On Tuesday morning, Trump intensified his war war, saying that in social networks he will make Canada pay “a financial price for this so great that he reads in history books for many years”, before the controversy of the rate in constant evolution gave another turn later in the day.
Trump previously promised that the 25 percent tariffs on the steel and Canadian aluminum imported by the United States would begin on Wednesday, then he said they would double after the Ontario electricity tax to some states came into force on Monday. However, on Tuesday afternoon, Prime Minister Doug Ford said he would suspend the surcharge of electricity exports, after a telephone call with the United States Secretary of Commerce.
“Friends, this has been moving at rocket speed at this time,” Ford told reporters.
He said he hopes to have a “productive conversation” in the next few days with US officials, but is willing to impose retaliation measures if the commercial war continues.
Speaking to Radio-Canada from Washington, the mayor of Hamilton, Andrea Horwath, said that American tariffs on steel and aluminum would significantly damage the city’s economy.
With the tariff threats on Hamilton’s head for weeks, the turn of Tuesday’s events seems to be injecting more uncertainty in Hamilton, where steel giants such as Dofasco Arceormittal and Stelco are found.
Crowder represents the workers of National Steel Car in Hamilton, on Calle de Dofasco Arceormittal and Stelco. Elected officials and industry experts have been worried for months for the reverberant impacts of tariffs on these main employers and Hamilton’s economy.
“We are afraid of employment loss,” Crowder told Radio-channel. “It is possible that he is not directly affected by a rate, but that person who makes the product is now not spending money in his store or business.”
Steel Insider says ‘difficult to believe’ we are here
Keanin Loomis, president and CEO of the Canadian steel construction institute, said the industry expects tariffs to be implemented on Wednesday.
“It’s hard to believe we’re here,” News Network told CBC on Tuesday. “It’s another sad day for Canada. One thing we can comfort is that the markets have reacted.”
Trump’s tariff announcement sent to the US stock market.
Repurposition measures are important because Americans need to feel economic pain to press Trump to go back, he said, supporting Ford’s electricity surcharge, and the appearances in the US media.
“He has done incredible job leading this country,” Loomis said. “It is one of the most popular Canadians in the United States at this time. Hopefully, if there is a way to go down [the trade war] It is through the Prime Minister. ”
The mayor of Hamilton says that tariffs could have an impact of $ 1b
In Hamilton, Steel is the “rock bed” of the economy, said Mayor Andrea Horwath to Radio-Canada in an interview on Tuesday.
Horwath is in Washington for a conference related to the health and economy of the great lakes. She said the discussion has become rates.
Last week, the mayor said he convened a round table meeting that included 14 of Hamilton’s largest manufacturers, the Port Authority of Hamilton-Owa, Hamilton’s International Airport, the city’s leaders and local commerce cameras. They met to “evaluate the impacts and discuss strategies to protect local jobs and industries.”
“We don’t know what will happen next,” said Hothath on Tuesday, but steel tariffs “will have a devastating impact on our city.”
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, is stopping tariffs, again, in some goods in Canada and Mexico. Andrew Chang breaks down two schools of thought: if Trump’s chaotic approach comes from lack of planning or a much more intentional strategy.
Horwath said there could be an impact of “$ 1 billion” and “thousands and thousands” of work on the line in manufacturing and processing workplaces.
Companies could close, said Hothath, but that depends on each company and how much potential rates last. There will also be “lasting impacts” if, for example, tariffs lead customers to find new suppliers.
An important question to answer, he said, is how to support affected workers.
Friday, the Federal Government announced An help pack of $ 6 billion for companies impacted by US tariffs and relaxed some employment insurance rules in an effort to increase access for people in need.
“We have tried and proven tools for our people to pass through the most difficult crises and we will not hesitate to use them,” said Labor Minister Steven Mackinnon.
