A 50 per cent tariff will apply to imports from these countries that surpass the 2024 volumes, though Canada will honor existing arrangements with its Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) trade partners, Carney said.

Canada will implement additional tariffs of 25 per cent on steel imports from all countries containing steel melted and poured in China before the end of July.

Carney is responding to complaints from the domestic industry, which had said that other countries are diverting steel to Canada and making the domestic industry uncompetitive due to U.S. tariffs.

The Canadian steel industry had asked the government to introduce tougher anti-dumping measures to protect the domestic industry. U.S. President Donald Trump increased import duties on steel and aluminum to 50 per cent from 25 per cent earlier this month. Canada is the top seller of steel to the United States.

Billion-dollar fund introduced

Carney also said domestic steel companies would be prioritized in government procurement, and he introduced a $1 billion fund to help steel companies advance projects in industries such as defense.

“These measures will ensure Canadian steel producers are more competitive by protecting them against trade diversion resulting from a fast-changing global environment for steel,” Carney said on Wednesday.

For countries without free trade agreements with Canada, the government lowered the tariff-free quota to 50 per cent of 2024 volumes from 100 per cent previously. Above the quota, imports will also face a 50 per cent tariff.

Catherine Cobden, president and CEO of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, in an interview with the CBC, said the timing wasn’t sufficient for domestic steelmakers confronting a crisis. “This is something we should have been doing all along, but it’s fantastic to see that we are making progress,” Cobden told the CBC.

In a separate statement, Canadian steel maker Evraz said it has filed a complaint against steel imports from Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea, Turkey and the United States, against unfairly priced imports of Oil Country Tubular Goods.

—Reporting by Divya Rajagopal and Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto

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The MEA said in a statement the lockout, which will impact nearly 1,200 port workers at the Canadian port that handled 8.7 million metric tons in the third quarter of 2024, has been declared as of 9 p.m. eastern (02:00 GMT).

The lockout will further slow Canadian imports and exports at a time the Port of Montreal was already operating at partial capacity and as West Coast ports are stopped due to a separate dispute.

The union representing longshoremen at the Port of Montreal said the offer was rejected by 99.7 per cent of members because the employer refused to negotiate.

“If the MEA had respected the collective bargaining processes, solutions would have been found and a conflict at the Port of Montreal would have been avoided,” said union adviser Michel Murray in a statement.

Two terminals operated by Termont, the container terminal operator based out of the Port of Montreal, representing about 40 per cent of Montreal’s container traffic and 15 per cent of total port volume, have been shut down by the union’s strike, which began on Oct. 31.

However, after Sunday’s announcement all longshoring at the port will be locked out. And only essential services not related to longshoring will continue at the Port of Montreal.

The MEA said that its final offer provided for a three per cent salary increase per year for four years and a 3.5 per cent increase for the two subsequent years.

West Coast ports including Canada’s largest port of Vancouver have also been mostly shut down since Monday due to a labor dispute, impacting exports of canola oil and forest products.

—Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru, Divya Rajagopal in Toronto

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