Sault Ste. Marie MP says Algoma Steel loans ‘absolutely critical’ to its survival

The federal and provincial governments have announced a loan package totalling $500 million for Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie.

The member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie and the Algoma region said Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trump tried to “wipe Algoma Steel off the map" with his punishing tariffs.

Terry Sheehan also said Trump won’t succeed and argued the financial lifeline the federal and provincial governments have offered the steel plant is “absolutely critical” to its survival.

“The 50 per cent tariffs were meant to wipe Algoma Steel off the map. That’s one of (Trump’s) plans, to decimate the steel industry around the world,” he said.

Ottawa announced Monday that Algoma Steel Group Inc. will receive $500 million in federal and provincial loans to help it reorient its business to cope with the impact of the ongoing trade war.

Ottawa’s $400 million in financial assistance comes from the Large Enterprise Tariff Loan program, a $10-billion tariff relief fund set up in March. The Ontario government is lending $100 million to Algoma.

“This will allow them to pivot to the future, to diversify what and how they produce,” Sheehan said.

“Because right now, 50 to 60 per cent of their steel is going to the United States and a 50 per cent tariff was just not sustainable.”

Algoma Steel’s CEO has said Trump’s 50 per cent steel tariffs effectively closed off the American market to Canadian steel.

Sheehan told reporters on Parliament Hill that while it could take 18 months to two years to pivot the domestic steel industry away from the U.S. market, that will only make it stronger.

“What we have to do is make sure that our industries have the opportunities to produce those goods, such as steel, aluminum, wood in our major building projects, including retooling and rebuilding our military,” he said.

Sheehan said he wants to put forward a new national strategy for steel that strengthens the domestic industry for the long term.

“In 2018, unfortunately, the steel industries, quite frankly, didn’t diversify enough and they went back to their old markets -- and we saw that movie again,” he said.

“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the future in American politics, but we have to be prepared for whatever Trump’s legacy is.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2025.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press

-- With files from Craig Lord