Steel sector praises new tariff measures, but says more needs to be done

The head of Canada’s steel industry association says there was one disappointment in Prime Minister Mark Carney‘s otherwise helpful package of measures to boost the domestic market in the face of U.S. tariffs.

Carney announced new measures Wednesday to help steel and lumber producers find fresh markets for their goods within Canada.

They include tighter quotas on foreign steel entering Canada and a promise to trim freight rates for materials crossing provincial borders by rail.

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Canadian Steel Producers Association CEO Catherine Cobden says those measures likely won’t fully make up for the loss of access to the U.S. market, but they’re a step in the right direction for an industry in desperate need of relief.

She says the industry was disappointed to see Ottawa announce a second extension to Canada’s remission program for some steel importers in critical industries, which waters down Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel.

Cobden says she’ll be holding the federal government to its word after Carney promised Wednesday the remission program would wrap up at the end of January — more than three months after the original deadline.