Working class pays for tariff failures, says reader

Opinion. The views expressed are the author’s own.

I have a personal attachment to steel and aluminum, as these are two of the main materials used in our fabrication process. Since the tariffs were first brought in and a so-called “tariff war” began, my employer’s business and investment have been under attack, threatened by an unruly and unforgivable political crusade led by President Trump and his Republican Party rabble.

Excessive tariffs on both American and Canadian steel mills have limited what will be made in the future, and the prices of items already in stock have all escalated. You would think the mills would want to sell the items on their floors, but their prices shot up months ago. To complicate the situation further, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Canadian and American steelworkers may lose their jobs in temporary or permanent layoffs.

Tariffs have made life in Canada most difficult. The cost of living has gone up considerably, whether because of product and service limitations or simply because of corporate greed. Banks, public services, auto repair shops and grocery and food suppliers continue to raise their prices, often blaming supply chain limitations or tariffs. In my experience, the same dozen eggs that cost $2.99 have nearly doubled in price here in Canada, as they have in the United States.

Simple limitations on a business’s production demand greater sales, yet those sales are not forthcoming. In my own sector, store fixture manufacturing, U.S. buyers still purchase $1.7 billion to more than $2.5 billion worth as of 2026, according to World Metrics. Corporations talk a lot about supporting their communities, but it is their actual procurement of billions of dollars’ worth of items that could be made in North America that shows their true colours.

As for the U.S. steel and aluminum sector, I believe its boards of directors and corporate leaders knew about and supported Donald Trump’s tariffs. In Canada, the well-protected workers of the steel and aluminum sector face threatened layoffs, all because the federal and Ontario governments allowed a Canadian steel giant, Stelco, to be purchased by a foreign company, Cleveland-Cliffs, in 2024. By my count, 22 sectors in Canada are dominated by foreign interests through investment or direct ownership, among them oil and gas, mining, banking and finance, telecommunications, real estate and aerospace technology.

Please remember that our federal and provincial governments knew America was going to use tariffs to get what it wanted. President Trump spoke about using tariffs as a political and diplomatic tool more than a year before he was re-elected. Our corporate heads and politicians let this pass over their heads, thinking it was simply campaign boasting. From the corporate world to the Official Opposition, the NDP, the Green Party and our Liberal government, all failed to see what the tea leaves clearly proclaimed: the possibility of tariffs being used as a weapon. For shame. Now the average consumer, worker and small and medium-sized business will all suffer for this lack of foresight.

“Always hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.” It is a saying most politicians and corporate honchos seem not to know or understand.

Steven Kaszab lives in Bradford, Ont.