Andy Rudenko and Dale Monkman measure steel for cutting on the Castle Metals production floor in Selkirk, Man., on April 16.Matt Horseman/The Globe and Mail
Joen Hadfield’s deep sense of pride in her community makes her believe that together the city will make it through to the other side of the trade war with Canada’s largest trading partner – but not without hardship.
Still, fear is creeping in.
The 71-year-old retiree was born and raised in Selkirk, Man., a small “steel city,” where tension has been rising lately. She says she is horrified by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports.
The Gerdau Ameristeel Manitoba steel mill is a staple in Selkirk. While she has never worked there herself, Ms. Hadfield knows many people who do or have in the past, including her cousin, who is now retired. The city’s steel industry is vital to its economy and the U.S. is its biggest market.
“It’s hard to predict as to what will happen, and who and what other businesses will be impacted,” said Ms. Hadfield, who sits on the Selkirk Heritage Advisory Committee and co-runs a Facebook group called Around and About Selkirk, MB, which has more than 10,000 members.
“It’s very disconcerting.”
Gerdau Ameristeel’s predecessor, Manitoba Rolling Mills Company, opened in Winnipeg in 1907. Five years later, a group of Selkirk businessmen thought bringing the mill to the city would be a good investment, so they formed the Selkirk Development Company and bought a parcel of property on the south side of the city, according to the City of Selkirk Museum. The group paid the mill $250,000 to cover the cost of relocation under the agreement that the mill would hire at least 15 local men.
Since then, the mill has had many financial highs and lows, with the one of the worst happening during the Great Depression, which caused it to completely close for the fall and winter of 1932. In 1995, Gerdau Ameristeel – a global steel producer with operations in seven countries around the globe – bought out the mill.
Today, Selkirk’s steel industry employs more than 500 people in the town of about 10,000, with the majority working for Gerdau, Mayor Larry Johannson said.
Employee Dale Monkman measures steel to be cut on the Castle Metals production floor, on April 16.Matt Horseman/The Globe and Mail
He said the city has had to weather Mr. Trump’s tariffs threats before: In 2018 during his first presidential term, Mr. Trump imposed 25-per-cent tariffs on steel imports.
“We made it through with no layoffs at the mill,” said Mr. Johannson. By mid-2019, Mr. Trump had lifted the tariffs, but Mr. Johannson said it looks a little different this time around.
“I don’t know if it’s going to last longer or if it’s going to be off sooner, but it really affects us,” he said.
Gerdau said it could not provide comment because it runs operations in both Canada and the U.S.
Mr. Johannson said the city and the mill grew together, and that everyone knows someone or has someone in their family that works at Gerdau, adding that his grandfather and father used to work at the mill.
“I wish he [Mr. Trump] would think about the people that are the backbone of both our countries,” he said.
The mayor said more than 70 per cent of the steel produced in Selkirk goes into the United States.
Mr. Johannson said during this time of chaos and uncertainty, he tries his best to keep an optimistic attitude, looking at how Selkirk’s steel industry can go forward in an even better way. He acknowledged Premier Wab Kinew’s $1.5-million grant to the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. Mr. Kinew said this will support businesses affected by the tariffs to navigate the new environment.
Additionally, Mr. Kinew said during an announcement held at the Selkirk steel facility that Manitoba’s government has ordered the province’s civil service to ensure that all building projects and purchases are made up of Canadian steel.
While Gerdau is the primary and oldest steel manufacturing hub in Selkirk, in the years since other steel-related businesses have popped up throughout the city, including Castle Metals and Karrich Industries.
Employee Andy Rudenko transports steel across the production floor at Castle Metals, on April 16.Matt Horseman/The Globe and Mail
Castle Metals operates in North America, Asia and Europe, distributing and processing alloy, carbon, stainless steel, nickel, aluminum, titanium, cast iron, and red metals (such as copper). It services industries such as construction, aerospace, and agriculture. Its Selkirk branch manager, Dave Simpson, said it’s a waiting game to see who becomes prime minister after the April 28 election and how they negotiate trade matters with Mr. Trump.
“Everybody has this let’s just wait and see what happens attitude. And that’s what’s happening with us right now,” said Mr. Simpson, who manages a team of about 10 employees.
Mr. Simpson said he’s felt a slight slowdown in orders shipping out but isn’t too concerned at this point. “We might have slower days, but we aren’t going to have dangerously slow days,” he said.
The CEO and president of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, Catherine Cobden, said a lot of what’s to come for Canada’s steel industry has yet to be determined.
But she said one of the positive outcomes she has noticed is that provinces across Canada are committing to use Canadian steel in all their projects. She hopes to see pledges such as Mr. Kinew’s be adopted into policy and not just used as political statements.
“We need to go further to make sure that buy Canadian provisions are made, are hardwired if you will, into provincial government procurement,” Ms. Cobden said.
For now, Mr. Johannson, the mayor of Selkirk, says the unknown is the toughest part.
“We’re taking this day by day, week by week.”