Steel producers and union officials met with senior government officials in Ottawa March 20 to present their case for safeguards against a potential flood of cheap foreign steel being diverted from the U.S. market. The coalition, led by Sault Ste. Marie's Algoma Steel, is demanding their concerns be addressed within a month. The domestic industry has endured a flood of cheap, dumped steel from foreign steelmakers for the past five years. Fears expressed by the Canadian steel coalition are that the Bush administration's tariff on some products of imported steels may result in more dumped steel on Canadian shores. The coalition wants safeguards such as new tariffs, quotas or surtaxes on foreign steel to protect the industry.
