Alberta and British Columbia want Ottawa to scrap safeguards on a range of imported steel products, arguing they are undermining crucial infrastructure projects and eroding the competitiveness of local firms.

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) began hearings this week into whether provisional safeguards — imposed in October on imports of seven different steel products — should be made “final,” a step that would see them extended from a maximum of 200 days to up to three years.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau has said the combination of levies and quotas are needed to prevent a damaging surge of imports from being diverted into Canadian markets as a result of U.S. tariffs.

But in separate filings submitted to the CITT, Alberta and B.C. say available pricing and import data across a number of affected products suggest any increases in imports are due to other factors, including rising demand and historical economic trends, not the diversion of steel from the U.S.

Meantime, the additional trade restrictions presented by the safeguards threaten to create shortages and boost the cost of steel needed for planned infrastructure and other projects, the provinces say.

The safeguards, which place a prohibitive tariff on imports of each product above a certain amount, are “detrimental to the British Columbia economy and for British Columbians generally without appearing to afford significant benefit to domestic producers,” the B.C. government says in its submission.

Restrictions on imports of concrete reinforcing bar and pre-painted steel for instance, could hike the costs of new homes needed to address B.C’s housing crisis, the submission states. The B.C. government has pledged $7 billion for the construction of affordable homes amid soaring rents and prices in Vancouver and other urban areas.

Keep reading in the Edmonton Journal

 

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