“I’ll have second thoughts about that” now, he told AFP on the warehouse floor of North York Iron, a family-owned steel distribution business in Toronto started by his great-uncle more than 60 years ago.
Trump’s latest tariff order has sparked fresh anger among Canadians, including business owners like Tobe who deal with US counterparts on a near-daily basis.
“They’re like brothers to us,” he said of US steel firms.
“Things have been running smoothly, going back and forth across the borders for decades… We’re being stabbed in the back a bit, I feel.”
Trump’s pronouncements on US-Canada trade have veered in several directions.
He has promised a blanket 25 percent tariff on all Canadian imports — measures the president says are necessary to force action on migrant crossings and the drug fentanyl, even if neither is a significant issue at the northern border — but also complained about trade deficits.
His separate 25 percent tariffs on worldwide steel and aluminum imports are due to take effect next month.
If the metal duties come into force, Canada will be hit harder than any other nation, said Fraser Johnson, a supply-chain expert at Western University’s Ivey Business School.
“It’s going to be very disruptive,” he told AFP, noting that about 90 percent of Canada’s steel and aluminum exports go to the United States.
Beyond damage to Canadian steel and aluminum manufacturers, US customers will also suffer a swift and enduring hit, Johnson said.
“The burden will be felt almost immediately because the US does not have the domestic capacity to be able to support its entire needs,” he added, suggesting it could take “decades” for US suppliers to fully adjust to a loss of sourcing from Canada.
Waiting on retaliation
