U.S. will lose jobs no matter how high tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum get, Trudeau says

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a trade war with Canada will cost the United States jobs regardless of whether U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs could go as high as 50 per cent on products such as steel.

The White House said this week that different sets of duties imposed on Canada will stack on top of each other. Trump has set 25-per-cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, due to take effect March 12, as he tries to coerce international manufacturers to relocate to the United States.

This means if Mr. Trump also proceeds with his delayed threat to impose 25-per-cent levies on all Canadian goods – and 10 per cent on energy and critical minerals – then the total tariff on steel, for instance, could rise to 50 per cent.

Asked Wednesday about this latest word from the White House, Mr. Trudeau said Canada will retaliate on the United States and the ensuing trade war will cost Americans their jobs.

“Regardless of the level of tariffs that eventually the administration might move forward on, we will be equally unequivocal in our response,” the Prime Minister told journalists in Brussels.

Similar tariffs in 2018 sparked a trade war between Canada and the U.S.

He pointed out during the last trade war over steel and aluminum, tens of thousands of U.S. jobs were lost. Back in 2018, Mr. Trump imposed 25-per-cent tariffs on foreign steel and 10-per-cent levies on aluminum. Canada retaliated by imposing counter-tariffs on $16.6-billion of American imports. This war lasted nearly a year.

“Potential job losses in the U.S. based on these tariffs on steel and aluminum is not mere speculation,” Mr. Trudeau said.

“We know that that will happen because that’s exactly what happened last time tariffs were brought in on steel and aluminum,” he said. “There were job losses in the United States: 75,000 fewer jobs in the U.S. because of tariffs they brought in on steel and aluminum.

On Monday, Mr. Trump announced the 25-per-cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. These were imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which gives the President the authority to restrict trade on the grounds of national security. Mr. Trump used these powers to impose tariffs on both metals during his first term.

Mr. Trump also threatened across-the-board, 25-per-cent tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico to push the countries to do more to address fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration. Last week, he paused the implementation of these tariffs for a month, after Ottawa and Mexico City announced additional border security measures.

If both tariffs do come into force, they would stack on one another, pushing the tariff on steel up to 50 per cent, a White House spokesperson confirmed on background.

Trudeau believes Trump is serious about his calls for the U.S. to annex Canada

The Prime Minister, asked about Mr. Trump’s persistent pitch to Canada to join the United States, said it’s out of the question.

Last week he told a behind-closed-doors economic summit in Toronto that he believes Donald Trump is sincere in his desire to annex Canada, in part to gain access to its critical minerals. He told the crowd how the U.S. President, in their most recent conversation, suggested the Prime Minister familiarize himself with a 1908 treaty that set the boundaries between the two countries.

“Conversations around a 51st state are a non-starter,” Mr. Trudeau said Tuesday. “It’s never going to happen, but we have to take seriously what the President is saying and fold that into our thinking as we continue to stand up for Canada.”