Quebec calls for early talks of trade deal as Trump brings metal tariffs
Canada should try to accelerate the renegotiation of the North American trade agreement, Quebec’s premier said, after US President Donald Trump said he plans to put 25% tariffs on all US steel and aluminum imports.
“We need to put an end to this uncertainty,” Premier Francois Legault said in a social media post Sunday, shortly after Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he’ll be announcing metals tariffs on “everybody”.
The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement that Trump signed during his first term as president is due to be reviewed next year. But with Trump already threatening broad tariffs against the US’s two neighbors, there are some within Canada who want to speed up those talks.
“All this shows is that we need to start renegotiating our free-trade agreement with the US as soon as possible, and not wait for the review scheduled for 2026,” Legault wrote.
Canada, Mexico, Brazil and South Korea are the US’s largest foreign steel suppliers. Canada is the largest external supplier of aluminum, producing more than half of US imports of the metal, which is used in aircraft, electronics, construction, packaging and other products.
Quebec, Canada’s second most populous province with 9 million people, is the center of the country’s aluminum industry, making about 2.9-million tons a year. Production is led by two industry powerhouses — Pittsburgh-based Alcoa and London-based Rio Tinto.
Trump pledged on Feb. 3 to hold off on tariffs against Canada and Mexico for 30 days after those two countries announced moves to improve border security.
“The best we can hope for is a relatively rapid and intense start to USMCA renegotiations,” Ian de Verteuil, a strategist at CIBC Capital Markets, said in an email to clients. “As we have said in the past, the threat of tariffs by the Americans is often as effective as tariffs themselves – it makes investing in Canada and Canadian equities riskier.”
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Showroom
ENVASS is a customer and solutions-driven environmental consultancy with established divisions, serviced by highly qualified and experienced...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Weir is a global leader in mining technology. We recognise that our planet’s future depends on the transition to renewable energy, and that...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
