Sault, other officials working on response to U.S. steel tariffs

Industry and labour leaders in the Sault have been meeting to formulate a response to the sudden doubling of steel tariffs by the U.S.

Last week’s move by the United States to double steel tariffs spurred a lot of discussion north of the border, particularly in Sault Ste. Marie.

On Friday, all three levels of government were joined by officials from Algoma Steel and its two unions to discuss a plan for the future.

The Friday afternoon meeting went roughly twice the length it was scheduled, said Sault MP Terry Sheehan and MPP Chris Scott.

The gathering saw industry and union officials telling upper levels of government what they hoped to see, while the politicians shared their plans, and what is being discussed at the House of Commons and Queen’s Park.

Those plans include short-, medium- and long-term plans, varying from liquidity issues, steel dumping from foreign countries and the announcement of projects that will use Canadian steel.

“How do we get our steel industry into a place where they can take advantage of an unprecedented, you know, record-breaking, historic build Canada, build Canada strong?” Sheehan said.

“We’re looking at working with the premiers from all the provinces and territories on building huge infrastructure projects that will use steel.”

“There’s the six inches in front of our face -- the current doubling of steel tariffs plus the dumping and the market just being extremely volatile,” Scott said.

“That’s the primary focus. And then letting them know we’ve got their backs -- Terry and the feds have their backs.”

Sheehan said that in the coming days, he will be speaking with the prime minister to update him on this and other steel-related meetings he had last week.