Canada has announced a support package of 6.2 billion dollars, or 5.7 billion euros, to shield its steel and automotive sectors from US tariffs. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford presented the plan together on Wednesday.
How the money will flow
Steel producers will receive 3.7 billion dollars over five years. Automakers will receive 1.8 billion dollars over the same period. A further 1.1 billion dollars for the automotive sector will be provided by the federal government in Ottawa.
Carney said US tariffs were weakening the industries of both countries. He said Washington had upended decades-long trade arrangements, and that Canada’s approach had to change too.
Talks stalled, tariffs biting
Talks collapsed in August after Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on about 20 billion dollars of Canadian goods, and Ottawa retaliated. Canadian automotive exports to the US have fallen by more than 10 percent, while US automotive exports to Canada have dropped by more than 20 percent.
Carney confirmed a long phone call with Trump on Wednesday covering trade, Iran and the Middle East. He acknowledged that no progress had been made. Canada, he said, was ready to return to the negotiating table.
Cleveland-Cliffs confirmed layoffs at its Hamilton, Ontario facility on the day before the package was announced.
Political crossfire
The US Embassy accused Canadian politicians of trying to influence the upcoming US midterm elections. It named Industry Minister Mélanie Joly over retaliatory tariffs targeting Republican states, and Ford over a TV ad criticising tariffs that featured Ronald Reagan. That ad had led Trump to end trade talks in October 2025.
Both leaders denied the accusations. Ford said that whatever happens in the midterm elections, Canada will not return to the old order. Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University, called the idea that Canada could significantly change the midterm outcome completely absurd.
Carney aims to double Canada’s non-US exports within a decade.
