Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. chief executive Lourenco Goncalves criticized Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday, accusing him of “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory” on trade, while praising U.S. President Donald Trump, as the American steelmaker remains in conflict with Ottawa over hundreds of job losses in Canada.
The dispute stems from a Sept. 28 announcement by Stelco Inc., which Cleveland-Cliffs owns, that it would lay off up to 500 workers in Hamilton and Nanticoke, Ont. The federal government says the layoffs breach legally binding commitments Cliffs made when it acquired Stelco in 2024, including a pledge to maintain at least the same number of unionized employees in Canada for five years. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly has repeatedly warned that Cliffs could be sued or forced to divest its Canadian operations if it does not comply.
Company Points to Trade Pressures
Cliffs says it can no longer compete in galvanized steel in Canada because of the trade war with the United States and what it describes as Ottawa’s failure to prevent cheap imports from flooding the market. On a conference call following the release of Cliffs’ third-quarter earnings, Goncalves said that while a federal crackdown last year on foreign steel imports helped Stelco in hot-rolled steel, it has not done enough for the galvanized sector. He said the Canadian galvanized market is too small to support both Stelco and ArcelorMittal Dofasco alongside a wave of cheap imports.
“The domestic market in Canada simply cannot accommodate,” Goncalves said. “And when the prime minister goes on a world trip and says, ‘Come to Canada, we’re open for business,’ they’re basically inviting new imports into the market.”
Goncalves also linked Carney’s efforts to diversify Canada’s auto sector internationally to the steel job losses, pointing to the Prime Minister’s earlier decision to allow China to sell a limited number of electric vehicles in Canada. “He was basically snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory,” Goncalves said, adding that “the punishment was not on companies like Stelco or even Cleveland-Cliffs, the punishment was on Canadian workers.”
Praise for U.S. Tariffs
Goncalves credited Trump’s imposition of tariffs of up to 50 per cent on most U.S. steel imports last year with boosting Cliffs’ profits, allowing the company to invest with confidence, and helping bring manufacturing back to the United States. He thanked Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer by name, and said the U.S. is now the third-largest steel producer in the world, ahead of Japan.
After the Stelco layoffs were announced, Carney said Cliffs had “betrayed” its Canadian workforce. On Sept. 29, Carney also noted that Goncalves had previously “applauded President Trump for putting those tariffs on,” signalling that the CEO’s earlier public support for U.S. trade policy had drawn his displeasure.
Ottawa’s Import Restrictions
Goncalves renewed his call for Ottawa to curb cheap imports of galvanized steel, saying such a move would allow Cliffs to bring back laid-off Ontario workers. Canada’s current rules allow countries without a trade agreement with Canada to sell only 20 per cent of their 2024 volumes tariff-free, with a 50-per-cent levy applying above that threshold. Countries with a free trade agreement with Canada can send 75 per cent of 2024 levels tariff-free before facing the same 50-per-cent tariff on the excess. The United States and Mexico are excluded from these restrictions.
Goncalves said galvanized steel remains “the last piece of the puzzle to be addressed by the Canadian government” and that resolving it would let the company restart production and rehire workers.
In an Oct. 9 letter to the federal industry minister, Stelco argued that it remains in compliance with its obligations under the Investment Canada Act, contending that the employment commitments do not require compliance on every single day across the five-year period.
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