LILLEY: PM Mark Carney’s steel spin won’t save a single job

We’ll build a new LNG export terminal using Chinese steel, keep letting in cheap welded pipe from Turkey and refuse to negotiate lower tariffs on Canadian steel with the Americans.

But by hook or by crook, the Carney government is going to force Stelco in Hamilton to bring back 500 laid-off workers and produce steel it can’t currently sell.

Canadian politicians clearly think we are the dumbest people in the world.

Perhaps we are, since much of the population is so busy freaking out about Donald Trump that we can’t look in the mirror. Trump and his tariffs are a problem for our domestic steel industry, but we aren’t helping ourselves on that front by refusing to act in ways that would help our industry.

Prime Minister Mark Carney keeps saying we can become our own best customer, but that would require actually buying Canadian steel for projects in this country.

Before we go down that road, though, let’s look at the trade deal aspect first. Trade talks broke down on Aug. 21, and they haven’t resumed.

Talk to the customer

Carney knows it’s better for him politically to fight with Trump than to find a way to a deal. While most Canadian voters appear to back that approach, it’s doubtful the 500 laid-off workers at Stelco feel that way.

The United States is still our best and biggest customer.

For years, the U.S. has taken between 85% and 90% of our steel exports. Other markets like Mexico, India and the Netherlands have taken small amounts, but nothing like the Americans.

Steel was one of the settled issues in those talks that collapsed two months ago. Carney and his team should be looking to close the gap on outstanding issues like medium- and heavy-duty trucks so that tariffs on steel, aluminum and other products can come down.

Canada’s chief trade negotiator, Janice Charette, told a Toronto business conference what those of us paying attention have known for more than 18 months: we aren’t going back to a tariff-free world. That means we need to get the best deal possible, and you can’t get that, or any deal, if you aren’t showing up at the table.

Now, let’s talk about the policies the Carney government could change to help Canada’s steel industry.

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Made-in Ottawa problem

Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie paid $31.4 million through the industrial carbon tax program last year. Stelco and Dofasco don’t appear to have paid anything directly, but that is only due to following strict compliance measures, which come with a cost.

All of this drives up the cost of Canadian steel compared to foreign steel from the U.S., China, South Korea or the Philippines. Our own policies are making our products more expensive and therefore less attractive for use in construction, manufacturing and infrastructure projects.

The Carney government needs to repeal these measures and make the industry competitive again.

Ottawa could also change the tariff-rate quota system for foreign steel. Right now, countries like China, South Korea and Vietnam are allowed to export a certain amount of steel to Canada tariff-free. Above that amount, tariffs kick in at different levels.

We should shrink the quota and increase the tariff levels.

All the countries named above have been cited for dumping violations or having their products subsidized by government. If increasing tariffs on them offends your free-trade beliefs, their actions should do the same and result in higher tariffs.

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Performative politics

The government could also expand its Buy Canadian policy on major projects to include Canadian steel. That wouldn’t just mean steel fabricated here, but steel melted and poured here, because too much of what is passed off as Canadian product is really just a repackaged foreign product.

There are many ways the Carney government could be helping the Canadian steel industry. Instead, they’ve once again chosen the performative route of attacking Stelco because the owner is a supporter of Trump’s tariff policies.

Industry Minister Melanie Joly has made it clear in her public comments that this is a major concern for the Carney government.

It might excite the Liberal base, but it does nothing for jobs here at home.

It’s time for Carney to do the hard work of boosting and fixing the Canadian economy instead of just talking about it and making performative gestures.

blilley@postmedia.com

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