President Donald Trump’s decision to double duties on foreign steel and aluminum to 50% instantly turned North America’s open border for metals into a toll booth. Within hours, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the province will “onshore” the roughly $30 billion worth of US-sourced beams, rebar and cans it buys each year, calling the tariff hike “a tax on American products” that will backfire on US consumers and workers.
“Because of President Trump’s tariffs, we’re on a mission to onshore the [US$30 billion] in steel and aluminum products we buy from America every year. Steel beams, rebar, cans, everything — it will now be made in Ontario,” he said.
Ontario already hosts two integrated mills—Stelco Holdings and Algoma Steel Group—that together ship about 7 million tonnes annually and have shovel-ready electric-arc expansions on the drawing board. Redirecting import demand to these plants could lift capacity-utilization toward 90%.
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In Ottawa, Prime Minister Mark Carney labelled the US move “unlawful and unjustified” but signalled Canada will first pursue a negotiated solution before unleashing counter-tariffs.
Industry and labour groups are less patient: Unifor warns that a 50% border tax all but slams the door on Canadian steel, risking layoffs across auto and aerospace supply chains and pressing Ottawa to match Washington “ton for ton, dollar for dollar.”
If Ontario succeeds in repatriating downstream production, US mills—many of which rely on Canadian orders for up to 15% of sales—could find yesterday’s victory pyrrhic. Ford hinted as much, noting that “when we start onshoring $30 billion… they are going to wake up quickly.”
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