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On February 10, President Trump signed executive orders imposing 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, with the goal of boosting U.S. domestic production and employment in these sectors. This action is unjustified and contradicts the recent agreement the President made with Canada to pause tariffs on Canadian imports. We expect Canada and affected countries to respond strongly. We will keep you informed about Canada’s approach over the coming days.

Similar tariffs were previously enacted in 2018 but were adjusted to allow shipments from key allies like Canada and Mexico, replacing them with annual quotas for some countries. The Executive Order indicates concerns with excess global capacity and import surges from several countries, including Canada, which have increased 18 percent since Canada was excluded from the section 232 tariffs.

The U.S. has also expressed concerns about loopholes that allowed steel, particularly from China and Russia, to enter the U.S. through third countries like Canada and Mexico. The new tariffs are designed to close these loopholes, requiring that steel imports be “melted and poured” and aluminum be “cast or smelted” in North America before being exported to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection will also increase oversight to prevent any mislabeling of products from these countries.

The Executive Order can be found here:

Adjusting Imports of Steel into The United States – The White House

For your planning purposes, the following are key elements of the Order:

• Starting March 12, 2025, steel and aluminum products from Canada and other affected countries will be subject to additional tariffs.

• This includes 25% ad valorem duty on steel articles and 25% ad valorem duty on derivative aluminum articles and steel products.

• Exports of derivative steel articles (processed steel products) from Canada will be impacted, and customs procedures may become more complex as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforces these new tariffs starting March 12, 2025. The final list of derivative products covered by the Order has yet to be released and will hopefully be known in the coming days.

• Existing product exclusions for certain steel or aluminum products will be terminated by March 12, 2025.

• No new exclusion requests will be accepted after this date, and existing ones will expire.

• For reference, we have attached the 2018 scope. For “steel articles” it included the products found on pdf page 5 of the attached 2018-05478. You can see the HS Codes for the products as well as descriptions. For “steel derivatives”, while the current Executive Order suggests this will be expanded from the original list in the coming days, what was included was in Annex II of the attached document 2020-01806. It is mostly nails, staples, and tacks. Canada was exempt at the time, but is now captured. Aluminum derivatives are in Annex I.

We understand that these changes may create even more uncertainty for many of our businesses and stakeholders. We stand in this fight with you. We will be in touch soon.

Department of Intergovernmental Affairs

More information: Karley.Hewitt@novascotia.ca