Unifor urges Ottawa to strike back as 50% US tariffs hit jobs and disrupt key supply chains
The United States’ decision to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50 percent is threatening thousands of jobs in Canada’s manufacturing sectors and prompting calls for immediate government action to protect economic stability.
Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, urged the federal government to implement retaliatory tariffs and safeguard key industries.
National President Lana Payne said, “These tariffs are killing investment in our steel, aluminum, and auto sectors, and we are already seeing the consequences in lost jobs and economic instability.”
She called for “immediate and forceful action to defend good jobs and safeguard our national economic security.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney told the House of Commons that Canada is “in intensive negotiations with the Americans, and, in parallel, preparing reprisals if those negotiations do not succeed.”
Canada had previously responded in March by imposing 25 percent tariffs on $29.8bn worth of US imports.
The 50 percent tariff—effective as of 12:01 am Wednesday—replaces the 25 percent rate introduced in March.
According to Unifor, Canada supplies one-quarter of US steel and accounts for half of all US aluminum consumption.
Unifor Quebec Director Daniel Cloutier said, “These tariffs are a direct blow to aluminum workers in Quebec and across Canada. They threaten good union jobs and destabilize an industry that plays a critical role in the North American economy.”
The Aluminium Association of Canada, which includes Rio Tinto among its members, said the new tariffs could lead companies to shift exports to European markets.
Marid Industries CEO Tim Houtsma said the tariffs will shut Canadian steel fabricators out of the US market, noting, “We are going to tighten our belt and we are going to need to watch our cost because we are going to be shut out of the US market for some period of time.”
Unifor reported that hundreds of Canadian steel workers have already lost their jobs since the original tariffs were implemented and warned of further layoffs in the auto and aerospace sectors.
The union linked the move to what it called the ongoing misuse of Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act, which the US administration is using to justify trade barriers under the guise of national security.
Jeremy Flack, CEO of US-based Flack Global Metals, said the tariffs have already caused demand to drop. “We are not getting any orders. Volumes starting from February have begun to decline,” he said.
The tariff hike follows a 25 percent US tariff introduced on April 2 targeting all vehicles manufactured outside the US, including those made in Canada.
Unifor argued this violates both the spirit and the text of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and its side letters.
To respond to the escalating measures, Unifor is calling for a four-part strategy:
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Match the 50 percent US tariffs on steel and aluminum
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Enforce new border measures to block dumped or unfairly traded foreign metal
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Pause exports of strategic metals to the US while building a Canadian stockpile
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Strengthen the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act to stop job relocations driven by US pressure
Unifor warned that additional threats from the US administration—including targeting aerospace, softwood lumber, energy, pharmaceuticals, microchips, copper, and Canada’s film and entertainment sectors—require a comprehensive industrial and trade defence strategy.
“This is a defining moment,” said Payne. “If we don't defend our industries now, we risk losing them for good.”
