Eric Ham: As Trump’s anger boils over, Canada’s steel industry gets burned

Former Canadian ambassadors to the U.S. Frank McKenna and Derek Burney discuss whether Canada should levy counter-tariffs against the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump, clearly humiliated after learning Wall Street coined the term TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) in reference to his signature tariff policy, has pushed back by doubling down on steel and aluminum tariffs.

In an effort to ward off the emasculating terminology used to describe both his persona and trade policy, the president once again sends America’s biggest trading partner and neighbour into a downward economic spiral, along with nearly half of the world.

Desperately attempting to ward off the image of a weak and feckless leader, he has doubled tariffs on all steel and aluminum entering the United States. Levies that will send the Canadian steel industry along with key U.S. sectors, including the massive automotive industry, into a tailspin.

Running on the notion that the United States was once a laughing stock, the mirror is now turned on the former reality TV star and shows a man derided by captains of industry and masters of Wall Street. Caught off guard, the twice-impeached president is met with the shame and sting of his imaginary peers shunning and disparaging his policies and, above all, him.

Now, in a desperate attempt to re-shape the narrative, the president has haphazardly moved to implement economy-busting taxes that will potentially wipe out all the gains made since he single-handedly wiped out nearly US$12-trillion worth of wealth with his Liberation Day tariff announcement.

Nevertheless, market-watchers, trade analysts, and buyers undoubtedly believe the one-time king of bankruptcy will simply wilt and fold under the pressure once again. However, for America’s once-reliable friend and ally to the north, the president’s bruised ego is not just about saving face, it’s about saving an industry and a national economy.

A crushing blow to Canada

In a statement to CTV News Tuesday night, the Prime Minister’s Office called the additional tariffs on steel and aluminum “unlawful and unjustified.”

“Canada’s new government is engaged in intensive and live negotiations to have these and other tariffs removed as part of a new economic and security partnership with the United States,” the statement said. The PMO added that every dollar collected from Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on over $90 billion, before remissions, will go to “supporting Canadian workers and businesses impacted by the harmful U.S. tariffs.”

“We are fighting to get the best deal for Canada, and we will take the time necessary, but no longer,” the PMO said.

• Complete coverage of Trump’s tariffs

Meanwhile, Canada’s steel industry is calling on the federal government to quickly match Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum -- part of a growing chorus demanding swift retaliation.

Canadian Steel Producers Association CEO Catherine Cobden said Trump’s tariffs are delivering a crushing blow to the Canadian steel industry.

“At a 25 per cent tariff rate, we saw significant layoffs, curtailed investments and a significant drop of shipments to the United States,” she said in a statement sent to the media. “At a 50 per cent tariff rate, the U.S. market is effectively closed to Canadian steel, leaving billions of dollars of Canadian steel without a market.”

As America’s mercurial strongman assuages his bruised ego, the Great White North desperately attempts to stave off a growing crisis to its multi-billion steel industry. Lambasting a reporter that initially asked about the TACO term, the notoriously thin-skinned former real estate developer is lashing out.

Marketing himself a master negotiator and expert dealmaker, Trump is now horrified the exact opposite has been revealed and laid bare for the world to see. Recoiling at the thought of being exposed, the president’s ire is once again sending the entire regional economy into a maelstrom and it is not the White House or the president’s acolytes that feel the brunt, but companies and consumers on both sides of the border.

Since descending that gilded escalator back in 2015 the billionaire— who has staved off financial ruin multiple times — carefully crafted the image of a private sector titan. No doubt a shocking revelation to learn the laudatory adulation aligned with the mythical narrative rings hollow as true mavens of industry snicker and mock the very puffery and imagery built to hide ineptitude and insecurity.

Yet, as always, it is the United States’ closest allies and partners, and in this case, a signature industry (Canadian steel) that pays a heavy and steep price for Trump’s manifold shortcomings and self-doubts. The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter of 2025 for the first time in three years and while the second quarter is seeing a rebound, it is much smaller growth than originally predicted.

Still, this came as the Canadian economy saw 2.2 per cent growth in the first quarter. A small feat given the White House robust economic warfare meant to destabilize its northern neighbour in a bid to make Canada a territory of the United States. Yet, this war is very much waging at an unrelenting pace and even as both American and Canadian consumers develop whiplash, the prolonged battle persists.

Now, however, the war is less about national security interests, economic integration, or even social cohesion. Like everything with Donald Trump, it centers around ego and pride. Again, desperate attempts to cover and paint over lingering and persistent human frailties that perennially mar and discolour logic and reason. Yet once again, Canadians are caught in the crossfire, catching strays and being cut down. The direct result of one man’s petulance and puerile nature.