‘Industry analyst says Trump just wrote the Canadian aluminum industry ‘a cheque for $600 million’
Trade actions like the ones taken by the Trump administration this week are intended to inflict pain, and the steel and aluminum tariffs levied by the Trump administration are unwelcome developments for both industries in Canada.
But the harm will fall disproportionately on producers of steel, rather than aluminum — and not only because the tariff on steel (25 per cent) is higher than the one on aluminum (10 per cent).
The United States is in a much weaker position to hurt Canadian aluminum producers than it is to punish Canadian steelmakers. Indeed, the likely reason for the lower tariff on aluminum is that the Trump administration realizes it’s American consumers, not Canadian producers, who will end up paying for it.
In fact, the top U.S. aluminum industry consultant says the tariff has, so far, actually enriched Canadian aluminum producers….