Hamilton MPs 'as confident as we can be' after Washington visit to talk steel trade

It's still anyone's guess what Donald Trump's "Buy American" mantrawill mean for Canada's steel industry. But a group of Hamilton MPs who went to Washington D.C. Wednesday say they're as confident as they can be that Hamilton steelworkers won't suffer.

Naturally, Trump is Trump. But we're as confident as we can be given the circumstances that there will be a good outcome for Canadian steel.- Bob Bratina, Hamilton East-Stoney Creek MP

Hamilton's five Members of Parliament Liberals Bob Bratina and Filomena Tassi, NDPers David Christopherson and Scott Duvall and Conservative David Sweet met with officials in U.S. capital Wednesday.

And while theTrump administration is unpredictable, Bratina said, he feels better than before he went there.

"Naturally, Trump is Trump," said Bratina, who represents Hamilton East-Stoney Creek and co-chairs Ottawa's steel caucus.

"But we're as confident as we can be given the circumstances that there will be a good outcome for Canadian steel."

There's been political tension around steel this year as decision makers grapple with what to make of Trump's announcement that he'd renegotiate NAFTA. Those negotiations, he said, would follow a "buy American, hire American" mantra that's already meant bad news forsteel exports.

There's no real red flag yet.- Bob Bratina

In New York, for example, lawmakers reached an agreement on legislation requiring state construction projects to use American iron and steel. Premier Kathleen Wynne is advocating for an Ontario exemption when the policy comes into effect next April.

There's concern in Hamilton too. Just this month,a court approved Bedrock Industries's purchase of the former U.S. Steel Canada works, recently renamed Stelco.

This week, Bedrock managing partner David Cheney said while the political and steel climates are volatile, he thinks the company will succeed.

"Depending how the political waves roll and what happens in the steel industry, we think we're going to make money either way," he said.

The state of American steel trade has deep implications on Hamilton, Bratina said.

"We're still the steel city of Canada and the ArcelorMittalDofasco plant alone has 5,000 employees," he said.

"It has three blast furnaces, and there are probably no more than three or four blast furnaces working in the States right now. People really underestimate the power of steel that Hamilton still has."

The Canadiandelegation including MPs from Sault Ste. Marie, Windsor and Regina met with Ambassador DavidMcNaughtonand his Canadian embassy staff, Bratina said.

Then they met with the president of the American Iron and Steel Institute, American congressional steel caucus chairs, and United Steelworkers union reps.

The meetings were "informative and cordial," Bratina said, and "set the stage for continuing dialogue." The group plans to invite the American contingent to Canada this fall.

"Everybody's basically wondering how this is going to play out with the way the Trump administration is working," he said. "But there's no real red flag yet."

"We're not coming back with peace in our time," but "things are going pretty good."

Tassi agreed. The goal of the trip was to make sure American decision makers know Canada iscommitted to a mutually beneficial steel arrangement.

"They know and understand our message," she said. And "I feel good about that."

samantha.craggs@cbc.ca | @SamCraggsCBC