Canada Commits $6.2bn to Shield Steel and Auto Industries From US Tariffs
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a $6.2 billion support package for the steel and auto sectors hit by US tariffs. The same day, the US Embassy accused Canadian politicians of trying to influence next month's American midterm elections.
Canada on Wednesday announced a $6.2 billion (€5.7 billion) package to protect its steel and automotive industries from US import tariffs. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford presented the plan jointly. It comes as a trade dispute between the two neighbours drags on, with negotiations currently stalled.
Where the money goes
Over five years, $3.7 billion (€3.4 billion) is earmarked for steelmakers and $1.8 billion (€1.65 billion) for automakers. Of the auto funding, $1.1 billion (€1 billion) will come from the federal government in Ottawa. The announcement came on the same day US-owned Cleveland-Cliffs confirmed layoffs at its plant in Hamilton, Ontario.
Carney said US tariffs had upended a trade arrangement that had existed for decades. Canadian auto exports to the US have fallen by more than 10 percent, while US exports to Canada have dropped by more than 20 percent, which he argued weakens industry on both sides of the border. He has set a goal of doubling Canadian exports to markets outside the US within ten years. Ford said relations would not return to how they were, whatever the outcome of the US midterms.
Talks and diplomatic friction
Carney spoke at length with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday about trade, Iran and the Middle East. He reported no breakthrough but said Canada remains ready to negotiate. Talks collapsed in August after Trump imposed 50% tariffs on about $20 billion (€18.4 billion) of Canadian goods, and Canada responded with retaliatory measures.
The US Embassy in Canada also issued a statement accusing Canadian politicians of seeking to influence next month's US midterm elections. It named Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, who has discussed retaliatory tariffs aimed at Republican-led states, and Ford, whose US television ad featured former President Ronald Reagan criticising tariffs. That ad led Trump to walk away from trade talks in October 2025. Both leaders rejected the claims. Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University, called the idea that Canada could significantly sway the midterms absurd.
