Ottawa talking to metals giant Rio Tinto about cash flow help amid U.S. tariffs

Minister of Industry Melanie Joly says the federal government is talking to Rio Tinto about cash flow support amid tariffs. Joly speaks to reporters as she arrives at a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday, June 19, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle

OTTAWA — Industry Minister Melanie Joly says the federal government is talking to mining and metals giant Rio Tinto about helping the company with liquidity problems caused by the United States’ global steel and aluminum tariffs.

During a visit to Saguenay, Que., on Thursday to meet with businesses in the province’s critical aluminum sector, Joly said in French that Ottawa had started talks with the firm earlier this week.

She said the government had already offered funding help for a Rio Tinto project installing carbon-free aluminum smelting cells at its Arvida smelter in Quebec, and that she is ready to have conversations “to know how we are able to help Rio Tinto in its liquidity” when there is a tariff war harming them “in a completely unjustified way.”

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A spokesperson for the minister confirmed Friday that the talks were ongoing but did not provide any further details.

U.S. President Donald Trump last month doubled his administration’s global tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50 per cent.

Prime Minster Mark Carney said Canada will deliver its response to that latest volley in the trade war on July 21, based on how talks between the nations are proceeding by that time.

Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining firms, is dual-headquartered in the United Kingdom and Australia but operates a number of mines and refineries with thousands of employees across Canada.

Its website says it employs some 4,000 people in the Saguenay--Lac-Saint-Jean region. The company announced plans in 2023 to spend $1.4 billion to expand its aluminum smelting operations in the area.

The Canadian Press reached out to Rio Tinto for comment on the negotiations but has not received a response.

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Separately on Friday, Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced a new energy supply deal between Hydro-Quebec and Alumenerie Alouette, an international consortium operating a smelter in Sept-Iles that counts Rio Tinto as a 40 per cent stakeholder.

The consortium said as part of the deal it will invest $1.5 billion in modernizing its operations in Cote-Nord by 2045 with half of that spent in the next five years. A media release says these commitments will help maintain 1,000 jobs in the region.

The new electricity pricing deal is described as balancing risk and reward for the partners -- offering greater returns to Hydro-Quebec when aluminum pricing is strong, but helping to make Alumenerie Alouette more competitive when market prices are low.

The new deal will take effect in 2030 after the current agreement expires at the end of the previous year.

Alumenerie Alouette counts Quebec investment agency QUALIUM, Austria’s Metall AG, Norway’s Hydro Aluminium and Japan’s Marubeni Metals & Minerals among its stakeholders.

By Craig Lord.