Local businesses brace for U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum

With U.S. tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports set to come into effect next month, Ottawa businesses are bracing for their impact.

President Donald Trump signed orders on Monday to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum entering the United States starting March 12.

Gabrielle Bourdeau anticipates higher prices for customers at her Gloucester metal workshop.

The co-owner of Ottawa Valley Metal Inc., which sells steel and aluminum, Bourdeau said her business will focus on supplying the domestic market when the tariffs come into play.

"There will be some changing in the commodities market, which will affect our local demand in the end and our local pricing," Bourdeau said.

United Steelworkers, the union representing steel workers across Canada and the U.S., has condemned Trump's decision. 

"We know these kinds of reckless trade measures don't work, and hurt workers, destabilize industries and create uncertainty across the economy on both sides of the border," Marty Warren, the union's national director for Canada, said in a statement.

Local union representative Briana Broderick said those impacts will be felt acutely in Canada, which sends 94 per cent of its steel to the U.S. and whose workers make up the bulk of the union's membership. And Ontario, with six of Canada's 13 steel plants, will be particularly affected.

"We have 50 to 55 per cent of our [union] workers here in Canada — and, of course, most of the steel is produced in Ontario — that are in sectors that are directly impacted by these tariffs," she told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.

'We've been here before'

The impending tariffs are bringing a sense of déjà vu. 

During his first term, Trump imposed steel and aluminum tariffs, at 25 and 10 per cent respectively, in March 2018 — a decision that Broderick said led to mass layoffs of steel workers and supply chain disruptions.

"We need to call on the Canadian government to react strongly to make sure that we have supports in place for people who do become laid off, for workers who end up losing their jobs because of these steel tariffs," Broderick said.

But it's not only manufacturers that are affected by tariffs. 

"Anybody who uses anything with steel or aluminum is gonna feel it at some point," said Josh McJannet, owner of Dominion City Brewing Company.

McJannett also remembers the 2018 tariffs. "We've been here before," he said, adding that he expects this round of tariffs to hurt more.

The cost of the aluminum used in the brewery's cans has increased in price 50 per cent in the past seven years, McJannett said.

"We were able to shoulder a lot of that but I think the truth is at the end of the day consumers are always gonna feel these impacts," he added.

The brewery is stockpiling cans before the tariffs come into effect. 

In the meantime, McJannett hopes politicians will also focus on actions they can take to mitigate the effects of the tariffs. He'd like the Ontario government to lower the provincial beer tax to create some financial relief for the brewing industry.

"The likely outcome if nothing happens: we're going to be looking at a marketplace with less choice, with fewer local producers," he said. "And, yeah, probably higher prices which nobody wants."