Based on coverage from CTV News, CBC, and Global News.
Ottawa is rolling out a $1.5 billion relief package aimed at Canadian steel, aluminum and copper businesses getting squeezed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s expanded tariff regime. The plan is centred on loans and regional support money, with the government pitching it as a way to keep plants operating and workers on the job while the trade fight drags on.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and Evan Solomon, the minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, announced the measures Monday at a facility in Vars, Ont.
Ottawa’s $1.5 billion tariff relief plan
The biggest piece is a new $1 billion loan program that will be run through the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). The government says the loans will come on favourable terms to help companies handle immediate financial pressures from tariffs and adjust to “future market conditions.”
Global News adds some key details on how the loans are supposed to work: amounts will range from $2 million to $50 million, the first year will carry zero interest, and there will be no repayment required for three years (interest still applies after year one). Repayment would be expected at the end of that three-year period.
Separate from the BDC loans, the government also announced another $500 million for the existing Regional Tariff Response Initiative, aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses. Solomon said the goal is to support “strategic pivots,” productivity improvements, and market diversification.
How Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs hit Canada
The pressure point is the U.S. adjustment to its Section 232 tariffs, which Ottawa says took effect April 6. According to the federal description, the U.S. imposed 50 per cent duties on items made entirely or almost entirely of steel, aluminum and copper, plus 25 per cent levies on certain derivative products.
Other reporting describes the U.S. move as an expansion of tariffs to cover more products, including derivatives that were previously exempt. The practical effect: more Canadian-made components are being captured at the border, and some manufacturers are facing sharply higher customs bills than they had planned for.
Global News also reports the U.S. is currently imposing 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, and a 50 per cent tariff on certain copper products from Canada.
Support for Canadian SMEs making “strategic pivots”
The extra $500 million flowing into the Regional Tariff Response Initiative is meant to help smaller firms that depend on cross-border supply chains, or that sell into the U.S. market and now find it less viable.
The federal government and Solomon framed this money as a way to help businesses diversify beyond the U.S., improve productivity, and stay competitive. Other coverage similarly describes a pool of support for companies making “strategic pivots” as the U.S. market becomes harder to count on for some steel, aluminum and copper-linked products.
Canada’s counter-tariffs and China measures
Ottawa is also leaning on retaliation and trade enforcement. The federal government has already imposed a 25 per cent tariff on U.S. steel imports worth $12.6 billion and U.S. aluminum imports worth $3 billion, in response to Trump’s tariffs.
Separately, it has applied a 25 per cent surtax on specific Chinese steel and aluminum products, along with quota restrictions. The stated aim is to combat unfair trade practices and global overcapacity and to protect Canadian producers from being undercut.
Trade talks, CUSMA, and what comes next
Joly positioned Monday’s package as action Canada can take now, even if tariff decisions ultimately sit with Washington. Asked whether the aid suggests Ottawa thinks the tariffs are permanent, she said neither she nor anyone in Canada can answer that, since it depends on the U.S. administration.
At the same time, the U.S. side is signalling tariffs are not going away easily. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said late last month the administration is committed to tariffs and won’t return to the earlier approach of letting foreign goods in “without any fee.”
For Canadian businesses, the immediate next step is whether they qualify for the new BDC loans or regional supports, and how quickly that money can bridge the gap as border costs and U.S. market access stay in flux.
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