Canadian Design and Construction Report staff writer
Canada’s new retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods took effect Tuesday, with a wide range of steel, aluminum and other products used in construction now subject to additional duties.
The measures took effect at 12:01 a.m. Sept. 8 and cover about $27.6 billion worth of U.S. imports. The tariffs are part of Canada’s response to new U.S. tariffs imposed on Canadian goods last month.
For the construction industry, some of the most significant measures involve steel and aluminum products. Many steel and aluminum products that were previously subject to a 25 per cent Canadian counter-tariff are now subject to a 50 per cent tariff.
A full list of effected products is available here. The following are included:
- steel ingots and semi-finished steel products
- hot- and cold-rolled steel sheet and plate
- galvanized and other coated steel products
- steel angles, shapes and sections
- steel wire
- stainless steel products
- steel sheet piling
- steel railway and track construction materials
- steel bridges and bridge sections
- steel towers and lattice masts
- steel roofing frameworks and other structural components
- steel doors, windows and frames
- steel scaffolding, shoring and propping equipment
- steel plates, rods, angles, sections and tubes prepared for use in structures
- steel tanks and other fabricated steel products
- aluminum bars, rods and profiles
- aluminum wire
- aluminum plate, sheet and strip
- aluminum tubes and pipes
- aluminum pipe fittings
- aluminum doors, windows and frames
- aluminum structural components
- aluminum cables and wire
- various aluminum fasteners and other articles
The federal government’s tariff list specifically identifies bridges and bridge sections, towers, roofs and roofing frameworks, doors and windows and their frames, balustrades, pillars and columns among the steel structural products subject to the 50 per cent tariff.
Aluminum structural products face similar treatment. The list includes aluminum doors, windows and frames, bridges and bridge sections, towers, roofing frameworks and other structural components, also at 50 per cent.
The tariffs also extend beyond structural materials to include a range of machinery, tools, electrical products, plastics, appliances and other manufactured goods that can be used by construction companies and building-material suppliers.
U.S. softwood lumber is also among the products targeted by Canada’s retaliatory measures, with certain softwood products subject to a 25 per cent tariff.
The federal government says the tariffs apply only to goods originating in the United States. U.S. goods already in transit to Canada when the measures came into force are not subject to the new tariffs.
A tariff-remission process has been implemented to provide exceptional relief in certain circumstances, including situations where goods used as inputs cannot reasonably be sourced domestically or from non-U.S. suppliers.
For Ontario’s construction industry, the breadth of the new tariff list means the effects could extend well beyond raw steel and lumber, reaching fabricated structural components, doors and windows, scaffolding, piping, fasteners and other materials that can make their way into construction projects.
