WASHINGTON, D.C. — At a steel plant in Pennsylvania in May, U.S. President Donald Trump promised workers a new era of domestic steel production.

“We are once again going to put Pennsylvania steel into the backbone of America like never before,” Trump said, reflecting how he sees steel as the centrepiece of a revitalized American industrial capacity.

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How would he do it? With a tariff workaround that means Canada is paying the price for Trump’s promises in America’s steel-heavy swing states.

Trump’s tariff trick

The U.S. president has used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose broad, reciprocal tariffs against countries around the world — for Canada, that’s set at 35 per cent for goods not covered by the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

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