The Trump administration has reimplemented a 25% tariff on all foreign aluminum and steel imports into the U.S. Some leaders who rely on the Great Lakes shipping and steel industries are sounding alarm on potential price hikes. However, other leaders are arguing that the tariffs will be a big boost for domestic industries.
The Great Lakes is home to billions of dollars of economic activity. The Great-Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway generated over $50 billion in economic activity in 2023. Much of that activity involves the transportation of steel and aluminum.
Sault St. Marie, Ontario is home to Algoma Steel. They’re the city’s largest employer of over 2,500 people. Half of the company's steel goes south to the United States.
The Mayor of S Matthew Shoemaker says his community is worried about economic fallout. The mayor also said tariffs will hurt Americans.
"Products coming from Canada are going to make things like Tesla’s more expensive that Algoma Steel goes into. It's going to make things like water heaters more expensive for someone trying to buy their first time home," Shoemaker said. “It's going to make things like beer cans more expensive when you've got aluminum tariffs.”
Shoemaker says that, when factoring in direct and indirect spending, Algoma is responsible for almost half of the economic activity in Sault St. Marie, Ontario.
“We experienced these steel and aluminum tariffs in 2018-19 during President Trump's first term, and they didn't work then, and they're not going to work this time either,” the mayor said. “We will get through it as we did in the past.”
Bruce Burrows is the CEO of the Chamber of Marine Commerce. They represent Canadian and American shippers, supply chain operators and other Great Lakes companies.
Burrows says that tariffs will make raw materials more expensive.
"Many of those products are coming, from Canada, so the whole manufacturing and assembly auto chain is very integrated between the two countries,” he explained. “There's great concern from Americans, quite frankly, that steel and aluminum tariffs will be very hurtful to American auto companies."
Burrows said the Canadian and American shipping industries are intertwined. He cited harbor maintenance taxes, ice breaker support from the Canadian Coast Guard and payment of the St. Lawrence Seaway toll as examples of Canda’s support.
Others argue the tariffs will boost U.S. steel production and help the American shipping fleet stay competitive in the Great Lakes.
Jim Weakley is the President of the Lake Carriers Association, they represent U.S.-Flagged Vessels. He supports the tariffs and says it will help American vessels compete in a Great Lakes market dominated by their Canadian counterparts.
"Any lost cargoes going to or from Canada by the U.S. flagged fleet will be more than offset by increased cargoes going between two U.S. ports,” Weakley said.
“There's only two ways to increase our business, either increase market share or increase the overall volume of cargo that's being moved. And since we're primarily a domestic fleet, if the U.S. steel manufacturers are making more steel, we've got to supply them with more raw materials,” he said.
Weakley says the move is long overdue, to combat what he says are advantages the Canadian government provides to its own fleet, at American taxpayer expense.
“We're building a $3 billion lock in Sault St. Marie, Michigan. Canadians aren’t contributing to that. They get that for free.”
President Donald Trump said a 25% tariff on Canadian exports starting next month will "go forward."
WCMU's Rick Brewer contributed reporting to this story.
