How much aluminum and steel the U.S. buys from Canada and why

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On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to announce a 25 per cent tariff on all aluminum and steel imported into the country, including from Canada.

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Canada ranks third when it comes to overall imports to the United States, preceded by China then Mexico. However, Canada remains America’s biggest source of aluminum at 3.2 million tons last year, per the U.S. International Trade Administration. That amounted to roughly $15.9 billion worth of aluminum from Canada, per a news release from the United Steelworkers union.

This included aluminum wire, waste and scrap, household articles, tubes and pipes, and more.

Canada is also one of America’s biggest suppliers of steel, making up for 40 per cent of imports to the U.S. along with Mexico last year, Reuters reported. Per the Steelworkers union and the Canadian Steel Producers Association, $20 billion worth of steel is traded between the U.S. and Canada every year.

In January, the largest steel import permit applications were for Canada, for 624,000 net tons of steel — up 20 per cent from the previous month, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Steel imported to the U.S. comes in many forms, including ferrous waste (ferrous refers to any metal that contains iron), bars and rods, wires, stainless steel in ingots and more.

What is Canadian aluminum and steel used for in the U.S.?

According to Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canadian steel and aluminum “support key industries in the U.S. from defence, shipbuilding and auto,” he said in a post on X on Sunday evening.

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Minister of Transport and Internal Trade Anita Anand echoed Champagne’s statement on X in her own post.

“Canadian steel and aluminum support manufacturing industries across the U.S. including in the transportation sector – auto, shipbuilding and defence come to mind,” she said on Sunday.

“Now and always, we stand on guard for thee,” she added, with an emoji of a Canadian flag.

What do Canadian steel, aluminum producers have to say?

“This situation will unfortunately impact workers and consumers in America with the immediate increase on the price of aluminum,” said president and CEO of the Aluminium Association of Canada (AAC) Jean Simard in a news release on Feb. 3.

According to AAC, 9,500 Canadian workers make the metal, which is then processed, transformed and fabricated into parts, components, and everyday products by more than 500,000 American workers.

This generates more than $200 billion in economic output in the U.S. economy alone, said the AAC.

The association said it would continue to work alongside both governments. It also mentioned the “devastating impacts of unfair Chinese trading practices stemming from massive state subsidies on the entire aluminum ecosystem,” which should be addressed.

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“These non-market policies and practices of the last two decades have hurt our workers and businesses, shuttered smelters, and made it harder for our responsibly produced metal to compete. Canada will not be a transshipment risk or a vector for trade practices that could harm our collective economic security,” said AAC.

The AAC stressed that imposing the tariffs would only “raise costs for U.S. consumers and businesses in the middle of inflation reduction efforts.”

Similarly, Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) published a news release on Sunday. The group called the targeting of both Canadian steel and aluminum “completely baseless and unwarranted.”

“When President Trump implemented tariffs on Canadian steel in 2018, we saw massive disruptions and harm on both sides of the border, hurting both America and Canada,” said the CSPA.

They urged the federal government to resolve the issue and “ensure any measure taken against our sector is met with retaliatory measures and action to offset the devastating impacts tariffs would have on our sector and our workers.”

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In a news release on Monday, the United Steelworkers union also spoke out against tariffs.

“We’ve been through this before and we know these kinds of reckless trade measures don’t work, and hurt workers, destabilize industries and create uncertainty across the economy on both sides of the border,” said Marty Warren, the union’s national director for Canada.

“If these tariffs move forward, the government must be ready to hit back just as hard and be ready to face the consequences of this new chapter in the crisis on jobs.”

The union’s international president David McCall called for “policies that strengthen manufacturing and protect good jobs in both countries.”

What will Canadian steel, aluminum producers do if a tariff is imposed?

If Trump does impose a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian aluminum and steel, the path forward for manufacturers is unknown.

“While the details remain unclear, we will analyze the President’s order once it is released and have more to say at that time,” according to the news release from CSPA.

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