Though the week’s challenges were somewhat expected, particularly regarding steel and aluminum tariffs, the reality of their impact is now upon all Hamiltonians and Hamilton-based businesses.
To Recap the Week
On March 10, 2025, the Government of Ontario applied a 25% surcharge on all electricity exports to the United States as part of the province’s initial suite of retaliatory measures to U.S. tariffs on Canada. The surcharge was set to impact 1.5 million homes and businesses in Michigan, Minnesota, and New York, with the Government of Ontario estimating a $400,000 cost for every day the surcharge remained in place.
The U.S. Administration responded to Ontario’s surcharge plan on March 11, 2025, with notice that steel and aluminum tariffs slated to begin on March 12, 2025, would increase from 25% to 50% if Ontario proceeded with the electricity surcharge.
By the afternoon of March 11, 2025, the U.S. Administration extended an “olive branch.” This led to the Government of Ontario suspending the proposed energy export surcharge. The Premier then reported he would be travelling to Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick alongside Federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc.
March 12, 2025, saw the initiation of 25% tariffs on importing all Steel and Aluminum into the United States. As reported by the Associated Press, these tariffs are a return to the United States’ 2018 trade policy,y which saw the creation of 25% tariffs on global steel imports and 10% tariffs on global aluminum imports.
Canada responded to these tariffs with counter-tariffs valued at approximately $29.8 billion—a breakdown of this figure by Global News cites $12.6 billion in steel tariffs, $3 billion in aluminum tariffs, and $14.2 billion on other goods imported from the United States. In an interview with the BBC, Mayor Andrea Horwath reiterated, “The longer this lasts, the deeper the pain will be.”
At the time of this post’s publication, there is no clear outlook on the impact of high-level negotiations held between Canada and the United States on March 13, 2025. CBC News reported that Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters, “The temperature is being lowered, the temperature’s coming down,” following talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Canada’s Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc reported that he had a “very constructive discussion” with Secretary Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
What’s Next?
Canada and the rest of the world remain in a holding pattern as the United States shows no signs of reversing course on an April 2, 2025, reciprocal tariff policy. Despite that policy, the U.S. Administration signalled on March 13, 2025, to apply 200% tariffs on alcoholic beverages imported from the European Union in response to the economic bloc’s counter-tariffs on steel and aluminum. The European Union tariffs on steel and aluminum are set to be activated in April and are valued at €26 billion.
In the meantime
Economic Development is committed to providing regular tariff updates and sharing relevant local information on tariff responses. We encourage all Hamilton residents to engage with trusted local and national journalism for real-time updates on trade negotiations.
Calls for expansion and diversification of trade partners may leave many Hamilton companies wondering where to start on that work. To that end, a first point of reference should be to the Federal Trade Commissioner Service. The Trade Commissioner Service provides expert advice and problem-solving to all companies looking to export to the world. Canada holds 15 free trade agreements with 51 countries worldwide, and those nations combined represent two-thirds of the global economy. As Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade & Export Development, MP Mary Ng recently provided an overview of Canada’s trade position on LinkedIn.
Economic Development staff stand by to act as a bridge to the Trade Commissioner Service and can be contacted through the Invest in Hamilton website.
On March 7, 2025, a suite of programs was launched to support Canadian businesses. These programs include:
- Export Development Canada’s Trade Impact Program. Starting this year, this program mobilizes $5 billion over two years to help exporters reach new markets for Canadian products.
- Business Development Bank of Canada makes $500 million in favourably priced loans available to support impacted businesses in sectors directly targeted by tariffs and companies in their supply chains.
- $1 billion in new financing through Farm Credit Canada to reduce financial barriers for the Canadian agriculture and food industry.
- Temporary flexibilities to the Employment Insurance Work Sharing Program, which helps avoid layoffs when there is a temporary decrease in business activity.
Additional supports can be accessed through:
- The Canada Small Business Financing Program offers a maximum loan of $1.15 million to small businesses and start-ups in Canada with revenue of less than $10 million.
- A remission request program that will consider Canadian tariff remission under these two instances:
- To address situations where goods used as inputs cannot be sourced domestically, on a national or regional basis, or reasonably from non-U.S. sources.
- To address, on a case-by-case basis, other exceptional circumstances that could have severe adverse impacts on the Canadian economy.