OTTAWA, ON, March 7, 2023 /CNW/ - In the face of
rising offshore imports into Canadian steel markets, and action by key allies
to support their industries and workers in the global race to attract climate
investment, the Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) is calling for swift
action to protect Canada's competitiveness and safeguard jobs.
"Canadian
steel producers are a critical component of the economy supporting workers and
communities right across our country," said Catherine Cobden,
President & CEO of the Canadian Steel Producers Association. "At the
very time we are investing in real action to reduce climate emissions by
at least 6 million tonnes by 2030, we are losing market share to high
carbon, offshore steel at an unprecedented rate."
Since
2014, offshore imports into Canada have grown significantly,
increasing from 19% of our market to 39% in 2022. Canadian producers continue
to be undercut by countries with a history of unfair trade practices. In 2022
alone, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of steel came from countries with active
anti-dumping cases against them.
As it is
produced today, Canadian steel is amongst the greenest steel in the world
according to international benchmarking studies. The industry continues to
improve their carbon emissions and has announced transformative projects that
will achieve more than 45% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Not
withstanding the investments made to date, the industry still has a long way to
go to reach the mutual goal of net-zero and additional solutions will be
necessary.
"While
we appreciate the partnerships fostered to date, it must be recognized that the
US and other governments are moving aggressively to attract climate investments
and support its industries," added Cobden. "To remain competitive and
build on our climate leadership, we are calling on the government to adopt an
industrial strategy that is comprehensive in investment supports, prioritizes
the use of today's lower carbon steel, takes additional steps to further
improve our trade defences, and maintains carbon pricing regimes in a manner
that enable rather than threaten decarbonization investments in Canada."
The
Inflation Reduction Act in the United States provides a range of
lucrative incentives for new technologies, as well as explicit incentives to
promote the use of US produced steel. It offers $369M in support for
transformational investments. Other allies, such as the EU, are following suit.
Steel
producers in Canada have made eight detailed recommendations to the
Government of Canada for Budget 2023 to respond to the
competitiveness challenges brought on by high carbon imports and the global
race to attract climate investment.