Canada’s steel industry fears that Chinese steel facing steep tariffs in the United States will be sent north and overwhelm the Canadian market.

Ottawa this week introduced a tariff rate quota for countries with which it has free trade agreements, excluding the U.S., and imposed additional tariffs on steel imports from all countries containing steel melted and poured in China before the end of July.

A staffer works in a steel company that makes high-end automotive spring steel in Ma'anshan, East China's Anhui Province on June 24, 2025. Chinese companies are advancing their efforts in new quality productive forces, a new development paradigm, to improve total factor productivity. Photo: VCG

The Commerce Department plans to impose a 93.5 percent levy on Chinese graphite, an essential ingredient in the batteries that power electric vehicles.

China accounted for 5.89% of all U.S. trade in May, its lowest percentage in decades. Trump’s tariffs or trade trickery? It’s hard to dispute it’s a remarkable shift.

Tariffs—taxes placed on imported goods—are one of the oldest tools in the United States' economic policy arsenal, dating back to the 18th century. Recently they've returned to the spotlight in a big way.