Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney accused the U.S. owner of steelmaker Stelco of betraying Canadian workers after the company announced layoffs it attributed in part to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Carney said the federal government is prepared to pursue legal action against the Ohio-based parent company, Cleveland-Cliffs, over employment commitments tied to its takeover of Stelco.
Stelco said as many as 500 workers could be affected as it indefinitely idles cold-rolled and coated operations at its Hamilton, Ontario, plant, shifting that production to its Lake Erie facility in Nanticoke, Ontario. Cleveland-Cliffs said the move does not take steel production out of Canada, noting that output would be concentrated at the Nanticoke plant, where it expects a significant number of affected Hamilton workers to be absorbed and overall steel tonnage to remain unchanged.
In a memo to employees, Stelco said U.S. tariffs had significantly shrunk the market for its cold-rolled and galvanized products. The company said demand in the markets it traditionally serves fell almost 25 per cent in the second quarter compared with the 2024 quarterly average, including a 10 per cent decline in Canada.
Carney Targets Cleveland-Cliffs CEO
Carney directly criticized Cleveland-Cliffs chief executive Lourenco Goncalves, pointing out that Goncalves had publicly supported Trump’s steel tariffs. Goncalves has described the 50 per cent tariffs as a necessary step to protect U.S. steelmakers.
“Our thoughts are with the workers and the families who have been betrayed by the company,” Carney said, adding that he wanted to be blunt about the situation.
The layoffs come amid an escalating trade dispute between Canada and the United States, with Washington imposing 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and other goods and Ottawa responding with its own retaliatory tariffs. The announcement came a day after Trump, speaking at a White House event marking a new $15 billion steel plant in Iowa, credited his tariffs with reducing foreign steel imports and attracting investment to the United States, saying companies were building plants there because they did not want to pay tariffs.
Federal Aid and Legal Obligations
Carney said the federal government had offered financial assistance to help preserve jobs at Stelco, though he did not disclose the amount or terms of that offer. “There’s money on the table from the federal government,” Carney said. “The company made representations and has legal obligations for employment. We intend to use all powers that we have and pursue them to the fullest extent of the law.”
The Canadian government approved Cleveland-Cliffs’ C$3.4 billion takeover of Stelco in October 2024 on the condition that the company meet legally binding five-year employment commitments, including maintaining at least the same number of unionized workers and the vast majority of non-union employees.
Cleveland-Cliffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Carney’s remarks as the dispute intensified around the future of Stelco’s workforce and the company’s takeover commitments.
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