TORONTO, Jan. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Marty Warren, National Director for Canada of the United Steelworkers union (USW), today issued the following statement:
“President Trump’s renewed threat to impose across-the-board, punitive 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico effective February 1 is a reckless and harmful move that will have devastating consequences for workers, industries and communities across Canada and the United States.
In addition, the President articulated his broader trade vision in a memorandum on the day of his inauguration, which directs a reassessment of various trade relationships, including the USMCA, based on exaggerated and false allegations of U.S. subsidies to the Canadian economy.
These reckless allegations and the threat of tariffs are an attack on the deeply integrated industries, strong supply chains and the good, unionized jobs on which they depend on both sides of the border. Workers in key sectors such as steel, aluminum, forestry, mining, auto and broader manufacturing and processing sectors are the backbone of our economy. Threatening the Canadian trade relationship undermines the very foundation of these industries and hundreds of thousands of jobs.
As an international union representing 850,000 workers in Canada and the United States, the USW understands the shared struggles of workers across borders. Tariffs will hurt not only Canadian workers but also American manufacturers, workers and families who depend on the seamless flow of goods and materials between our countries.
We have seen the damage caused by similar actions in the past. These tariffs will create instability, add further uncertainty to business investment plans, disrupt supply chains, increase costs and put thousands of jobs at risk. They will also undermine the standard of living of workers on both sides of the border, as rising costs and job insecurity will impact communities. Workers cannot be collateral damage in political gamesmanship.
The federal government must respond immediately and decisively together with the provinces and territories, in a climate of unity that goes beyond partisanship. This means implementing strong countermeasures to protect Canadian workers, defending our industries through diplomatic and trade mechanisms, and working closely with U.S. allies who recognize the damage these tariffs will inflict on their own economies and workers.
Canada must implement domestic mitigation measures to safeguard Canadian jobs and industries in the short, medium and long term. This includes the implementation of targeted support for affected sectors, and trade safeguard measures. In addition, the USW calls for assistance for workers and communities impacted by tariffs, including improving and expanding access to Employment Insurance and other income-support measures, long-awaited industrial policies aimed at bolstering strategic sectors, domestic procurement policies and investment in domestic manufacturing capacity.
The USW will do whatever it can to fight for fair trade policies that protect workers and ensure shared prosperity. We urge governments and industry leaders to work to immediately oppose these destructive measures and to put workers’ needs ahead of political games.
Canadian workers will not be intimidated or sacrificed. We stand united with our American union counterparts in demanding fairness, stability and respect for workers in the industries that sustain our communities and economies.”
About the United Steelworkers union:
The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every economic sector across Canada and is the largest private-sector union in North America, with 850,000 members in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.
Each year, thousands of workers choose to join the USW because of the union’s strong track record in creating healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating better working conditions and fairer compensation – including good wages, benefits and pensions.
For more information, please contact:
Shannon Devine, USW Communications and Political Action, sdevine@usw.ca, 416-938-4402
François Soucy, USW Legislative Office, fsoucy@usw.ca, 873-355-2841
