Sask Party on steel tariffs: Ports, pipes and rail

Editor’s note: Today Pipeline Online is publishing in-depth stories from the NDP and Sask Party on last week’s steel tariffs from President Donald Trump. Both parties produced remarkably similar calls to action. Steel is critical for oil infrastructure and production, especially with regards to pipelines. Most of the major pipelines built in Western Canada saw their pipe come out of Regina, but it’s been some time since that mill has produced any pipeline pipe. And now, steel production itself is under threat of tariffs.

Second up, the Saskatchewan Party:

SASKATOON – In a press conference March 13, Premier Scott Moe spoke about how the canola industry was being hit by tariffs from China that arose from Canada imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, in support of American tariffs on the same initiated by President Joe Biden. He also spoke of the steel tariffs, and some of his later comments closely mirrored what the NDP has been saying, with regards to building pipelines and rail.

Moe said, “Right now, we have five challenges ahead of us in Saskatchewan.

“The first three are from the USA, the fentanyl and the border security tariffs at 25 and 10 per cent on various items. The second would be the tariffs that are in place today, the steel and aluminum tariffs, which have an impact on Canadian and yes, Saskatchewan businesses and families. The third would be the reciprocal tariffs that are poised to come into play on April the second we need to advocate and educate our the United States of American government on what the impacts of those tariffs are, not only on American families, but on the broader effort and initiative of North American energy and food security as well as manufacturing security.

“The fourth challenge that we have is Canadian industries, Canadian families and Canadian people is the threat of counter tariffs, and those are specifically designed to financially impact and impact and the jobs that are in our nation impact Canadians, not necessarily directly Americans.

“And fifth, and equally as important as the first four, and probably the most urgent for the province of Saskatchewan. And in the case of seafood, the seafood counter tariff Atlantic Canadians as well, is the Chinese counter tariffs to the federal government’s decision to appease the previous president with respect to the tariff on Chinese electric vehicles.

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“We would ask the federal government and Minister Champagne to stand by his words, to represent all Canadian workers, to represent all Canadian communities, and to represent all Canadian industries that are creating wealth. And we will continue to advocate, not only with him, but with other parties as well, as we do find our ourselves on the path to an election in this nation, on the path, ultimately, to some certainty on who is going to lead us through the course of the next four years, and to negotiate, not only with the American president, but to negotiate with other export markets around the world.

“But we would ask the Liberal government in the interest of Canadians that live in the province of Saskatchewan, across western Canada, and I would say across the nation; they need to engage with the Chinese government to show a signal that they are ready to negotiate and to find a path to a non-tariff environment. Or the legacy of closed industries and shuttered industries will be theirs throughout the campaign.”

 

Asked if he had spoke to the Saskatchewan steel industry, Mo said, “We have engaged very closely with the industry, and I invited a number of them to meetings throughout today as well, so that they can provide us some guidance. I said yesterday, we’re looking at every opportunity that we have provincially, using whether it be the strength of our economy or what that might be to support the steel industry in the province. That is the industry that is experiencing as tariffs implemented on them right now, today.

“the rest are looking at, likely an April 2, or maybe even an earlier implementation date. It changes day by day, as everything does in this conversation. So we’re in active discussions with the steel industry and how we can keep people employed in that industry during, you know, what is a very tumultuous time and a time where, you know certainty just isn’t an opportunity that we have.”

He said he was not aware of job losses yet.

 

In the wave of tariffs coming from both the United States and China, Moe identified the Chinese tariff on canola as the most significant to Saskatchewan. He told reporters, “I would hope that the federal government would view this as the most urgent conversation is the Chinese counter tariff on not only canola products, but seafood as well as pork. But the federal government does, and whatever we heard this morning, in particular from the agricultural industry is there’s boats in transport to China that are now trying to find a new hub. There is a real urgency. And I think you will see associations calling for this urgent action to the federal government prior to any election call, to engage with China and signal that Canadian government is going to work with the with the Chinese government to find a path forward on a free and fair trading environment.”

He added, “The same path forward, I think, has been coming together when it comes to the three threats that we count, that we have south of the border. You know, we’re hearing various political leaders talk about dollar-for-dollar tariffs. They’re 10 times – the economy in the US is 10 times our size. If you think you’re going to stare down that economy, you might not get the result that you that you were looking for. And we heard that from industry.

“There needs to be a path forward, path forward that provides us Canadian industries with the free and fair and fair trading environment that we have been able to have access to on both sides of the border for literally, not only decades now, but in excess of a century.

 

“And so, as I said, what was really quantified and solidified for me in the meetings this morning is the role that the federal government has to play. They are our federal government. They do represent us, as Saskatchewan industries and Saskatchewan families and Saskatchewan residents. And the expectation is, is that they would do so, whether it be in the American market or whether it be with the Chinese government. Those are the two largest economies in the world. We as an exporting province, and I would say largely, we as an exporting nation, expect the federal government to do so, and we asked them urgently to engage prior to calling any election. Cancel your trip to Europe if you need to. Mr. Carney, there are higher stakes at play here. There’s Canadian jobs at play and there’s Canadian careers at play.”

The following day Mark Carney was sworn in as prime minister, and he indicated his first trip out of country in short order would be to London and Paris.

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Pipelines to east and west

Moe also touched on the tariff impact on oil. He said with regards to ensuring energy security for the US, “For example, $10 to $15 billion of Saskatchewan oil, which is all of it, finds its way to refineries, largely throughout the Midwest; in places like Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin. Those refineries are very specifically tooled to refine a percentage of a lighter American oil, but also Western Canadian heavy crude. You can’t just replace that heavy crude content with lighter American oil. You need that heavy crude content, you need that Western Canadian oil in those refineries in order for them to provide the end product that American families put in their vehicles. And I think that’s largely why you saw a reduction from 25 to 10 per cent in the initial tariff proposal on the fentanyl border tariffs by the president. It’s because the transition to exclude western Canadian energy just simply wasn’t possible. That comes through education, that comes through advocacy, often of not only industry, but sub national provincial governments, like myself.”

As for trade diversification, Moe touched on a pipeline to the east. He said, “I would say that we actually have every opportunity to expand how not only steel, but the forestry industry, as well as a number of others here in the province. But in order to do so, we need market access. We need that free and fair trading environment. We are a province of exports. We often talk about food, fuel and fertilizer, but there’s the entirety of a periphery of opportunities around that, for example, steel.

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“We have had over the last 10 years, I would say the largest inter provincial trade barrier that we have seen has been our inability to build significant infrastructure from coast to coast in this nation, so that, for example, Canadians are have the inability to buy Canadian oil to fuel their vehicles and to heat their homes. That shouldn’t be. And it’s entirely due to federal policy as to why that is the case. There were literally hundreds of millions of dollars that were invested in an Energy East Pipeline, which of which Bill C-69 did not provide the environment and stopped that pipeline in its tracks.

“We saw policy developments with respect to the West Coast that stopped the Northern Gateway project, and I would say that both should be looked at with increased vigor from either this federal government or the next.

“I would go even further than that. When it comes to us, and look at the steel opportunities that were lost in each of those cases, but when it comes to, you know, what we do as Canadians, and more specifically, what we do as Saskatchewan industries, and where we work, we are an exporting province, and I would say there should be a renewed vigor, and I would hope there’s a renewed vigor on behalf of all Canadians, to look at ports, pipes and rail,” he said.

 

“And not only the infrastructure challenges in laying out, and I would ask any new federal government to look at long term as to what the infrastructure investment is going to look like and where that is going to come from, whether it’s increasing capacity at the Port of Vancouver or Prince Rupert. Whether it’s looking at investing in our military, and some of that would be in ice breakers to ensure the port of Churchill could actually be a viable port, not only for ag products, but for energy products as well.

 

“I would say that we need to look at this also from an operational perspective, not only a policy perspective on improving pipelines and improving port expansions and improving investments, for example, in military ice breakers to keep ports open, but also to keep secure our Arctic, but an investment in ensuring that the operations of our rail lines and our ports are uninterrupted, so that we can be the reliable supplier, the reliable supplier of food, fuel and fertilizer for years into the future.

“All of that bodes well for those peripheral industries like the steel and aluminum industry, all that bodes well for the forestry industry, as well as the general construction industries across across not only Saskatchewan, but the nation. And so we need to look at things different. And I would say that, you know, ports, pipe and rail, need to be part of the conversation of all Canadians conversation as we move forward and our policy development needs to be in support of not only enhancing the infrastructure, and ensuring that the operations in those three spaces are seamless,” Moe concluded.

 

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