Jamie Sarkonak: Carney wants to punish Canadian steel, just like Trump

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We’re all going to feel outrage at the 25 per cent tariffs that President Donald Trump just slapped on Canadian aluminum and steel — if we haven’t started already.

No one will take joy in the work slowdown that has already hit Hamilton, Ont. and the job losses, immediate and downstream, that ensue. Nor will anyone be happy to pay the higher price of American-manufactured items that spike in price due to the higher cost of raw materials within their country.

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And at Liberal HQ, they might just be disappointed … that the Americans beat them to the punch in punishing the Canadian steel industry. Steel manufacturing is bad for the climate, remember? Big polluters need to pay.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau forgot all about climate concerns on Tuesday, instead opting for a pro-industry line. “Tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum would be entirely unjustified,” he told reporters at an artificial intelligence summit in France.

“Canadian steel and aluminum is used in a number of key American industries, whether it’s defence, shipbuilding, manufacturing, energy, automotive. Together we make North America more competitive.”

On one hand, it’s a welcome message — especially for those whose jobs are immediately on the line in southern Ontario. On the other, it’s hard to believe it’s genuine. The current government has taken an anti-industry stance from the start, constantly grinding down on everyone whose livelihoods depend on harvesting Canada’s natural resources and processing them into factory-ready inputs.

Just rewind to Jan. 31 to see a more dismissive attitude toward steel from Mark Carney, who told CTV about his vision for the bright future of carbon pricing in Canada.

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“What we’re going to do is make sure, not that the government pays, not that we as taxpayers pay, but the large polluters pay,” he told CTV’s Todd Battis.

“Does that not ultimately trickle down?” asked Battis.

“No,” replied Carney. “Because what the big companies are producing by and large are not products that we are consuming. There’s some element of that but … you know, a steel company, how much steel are you using these days, Todd? Not as much — not as much we used to.”

Indeed, we can probably assume Battis and 98 per cent of his viewers aren’t sending 18-wheelers out to the Stelco pant to pick up orders of stainless rods and aluminum sheets. But what Carney seems to forget are all the appliances stuffed into their homes, the cars they drive and parts they need, the new builds that need to be constructed every week to cool local housing prices (good luck) and everything else that requires metal.

Aside from doubling down on the industrial carbon tax, Carney’s extensive carbon plan involves repealing the consumer carbon tax, handing out cash for taking government-approved climate action, starting a new Monopoly-moneyesque consumer carbon credit market, applying a carbon tariff to imports and whipping financial institutions into taking up the climate fight.

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If Carney does what he can to crank the prices of these metals, which we use every day, all for lofty climate emissions goals that can’t guarantee any actual change in global temperature, we can damn well expect to pay a higher premium for living in Canada.

Unfortunately, Trump makes a similar mistake: while Carney believes Canadians don’t need steel, the American president forgets that his own country needs it, too. One-quarter of U.S. steel imports come from Canada, adding competition to the American market by offering manufacturers a lower-cost option. Cut back on those, expect prices to rise.

The consequences reach into our homes: dishwashers are made in Ohio and Kentucky. Washing machines are made in South Carolina. Americans can expect to pay more for those American-made items if raw materials cost more. Meanwhile, no appliances are made in Canada, which leaves us to import from abroad — even from the people tariffing our steel.

Sure, we can buy European-built Miele to compensate, Singaporean-built Dyson, but once you factor in transport costs, and the many other pressures of global trade, it’s not always the best option.

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Then, there’s everything else. One Colorado toolmaker complained to the Associated Press that her margins are going to hurt thanks to the tariffs. In Texas, one economics professor is bracing for wide-ranging pain: construction, aerospace, defence, energy and even breweries can expect to be impacted. And Michigan’s auto association is warning of higher prices at the dealership.

Regular consumers are being squeezed on both sides: in the U.S., we have a shortsighted tariff hawk who will deliver higher prices to his people, going by his past attempt; in Canada, we have an economic cannibal in charge whose successor is even more hungry.

National Post

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