The federal government must acknowledge the crisis facing Canada’s steel and aluminum industries and refuse to sign the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) unless American ‘national security’ tariffs are permanently repealed, the United Steelworkers (USW) says.
“The Canadian government already lost one opportunity to cancel these absurd tariffs when it failed to do so in the USMCA negotiations. We cannot afford to sell out our steel and aluminum workers again,” said USW National DirectorKen Neumann.
“Canada must stand up for tens of thousands of Canadian families whose livelihoods are at stake,” Neumann said. “Our government must take a hard line against the ludicrous U.S. decision to label Canada a national security threat.”
The USW welcomed today’s announcement by federal New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh, calling on the Liberal government to refuse to sign the USMCA unless the U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum are lifted. The NDP also called on the government to ensure there will be no U.S. quotas on Canadian steel and aluminum before the USMCA is signed.
“Our members across the country have already felt the impact of these baseless U.S. tariffs,” said Marty Warren, USW Ontario and Atlantic Canada Director, who joined Singh on Parliament Hill for today’s announcement.
“Producers have been trying to manage the situation, but with the constant uncertainty everyone is facing, our members have been told it is only a matter of time before the tariffs will lead to more layoffs,” Warren said.
