Quebec premier says Ottawa should retaliate after U.S. slaps tariffs on Canadian aluminum

Quebec Premier Franois Legault is demanding the federal government respond in kind after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he's slapping a 10 per cent tariff on aluminum imported from Canada.

In a tweet Thursday afternoon, Legault called Trump's decision "disappointing," and joined aluminum producers and Quebec MPs calling for tariffs on American products.

"I intend to fight to defend the Quebec aluminum workers," Legault said.

The decision comes barely a month after the new NAFTA agreement, the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUMSA) was implemented.

During a nearly year-long trade war that preceded the agreement, the U.S. had imposed tariffs of 10 per cent on aluminum, citing national security concerns.

Now, aluminum producers are facing the same tariffs, on top of a global economic crisis triggered by the pandemic.

"It's an additional layer of uncertainty in an already very bleak business environment," said Jean Simard, the president and CEO of the Aluminium Association of Canada, which ships 2.6 million tonnes of aluminum per year to the U.S..

"It won't do any good to the economy," he said, noting that the move will jeopardize jobs in the processing industry in the U.S., more so than workers in Canada.

No layoffs expected as a result

Donat Pearson, the President of the Arvida National Aluminum Employees Union, says the situation is illogical.

"The Americans produce about a third of what they need, and they impose taxes on certain products that we send because they need them. It's a bit flipped, but we don't have much control over it," he said.

At the end of the day, says the Aluminum Association's Simard, the U.S. will still need to buy aluminum, but will have to pay more to buy it from other countries.

Though Simard says he does not think aluminum producers will start laying people off or shutting down smelters because of the tariffs, he is still asking the Canadian government to hit back "dollar for dollar, with a certain level of pain."

The goal is to force the U.S. industry to put pressure on elected officials to exempt Canada from the tariffs once more.

Mario Simard, the Bloc Qubcois MP forJonquire, says the move is clearly a part of an election strategy for Trump, trailing in the polls ahead of a Presidential election in November. He agrees that the move warrants strong counter-tariffs.

Richard Martel, the Conservative MP for Chicoutimi-Le-Fjord, said Trump's move was predictable and the Trudeau government should have anticipated it.