Sisi Chan

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

The head of Canada’s steel industry highlights slight disappointment in Prime Minister Mark Carney‘s package of measures aimed at defending the domestic market from U.S. tariffs.

Carney’s new measures, announced on Wednesday, are designed to help steel and lumber producers find the new market within Canada. They include tighter quotas on foreign steel entering Canada and a promise to reduce freight costs for materials crossing provincial borders by rail.

Canadian Steel Producers Association CEO Catherine Cobden notes that these measures, while a step in the right direction, likely won’t fully compensate for the lost access to the U.S. market.

One particular sore spot is the second extension to Canada’s remission program for some steel importers in critical industries, which weakens Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel. Cobden plans to hold the federal government accountable for the promised end of the remission program by the end of January.