‘No certainty’: Calgary companies relying on steel need relief from trade war

Calgary businesses that might be impacted by incoming tariffs are watching the back-and-forth closely, saying all they really want is some certainty.

Calgary companies that rely on steel are bracing for the upcoming trade deal deadline with the United States.

As it currently stands, there is a 50 per cent tariff from the United States applied to Canadian exports of steel products.

Canadian counter-tariffs are hurting one Calgary company that imports its 473 ml tall cans from an American supplier.

“If it’s not COVID or the Suez Canal or tariffs or trade wars with other countries that impact us, it’s crazy how there’s been no certainty with anything that we do; at this point it’s just become exhausting,” said Jeremy McLaughlin, operations manager at Village Brewery.

“I just want to focus on making beer.”

He says it’s challenging to avoid passing down rising costs.

“We would like to avoid increasing anything that’s customer facing,” he said.

M.A. Steel Foundry is down to operating two days a week.

It builds parts used in the energy sector in Canada and the United States.

Customers are holding off on ordering the custom steel products forged there.

“The price we have been charging, when the customer gets it, it is now 50 per cent higher in price,” said Richard deHaas, president of M.A. Steel Foundry.

“Those customers are hurting right now just like we are here.”

Since June, the Trump administration has imposed a 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum.

Canada is the top supplier to the United States.

DeHaas isn’t counting on a done deal by Aug. 1.

“Get a deal done, but get a fair deal that’s going to work for all Canadian workers,” he said.

Calgary-based CPKC said it’s effectively stopped shipping steel during a quarterly business update with investors.

“Our cross-border steel business, for all practical purposes, is shut down at this point at a 50 per cent tariff level,” said John Brooks, executive vice-president and chief marketing officer for CPKC.

Brooks says CPKC has been looking at alternative options for customers.