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Immediate release 
Ottawa, October 6, 2003
2003-048

Canada Joins North American Steel Trade Committee

Related document:

•    Joint Statement of NAFTA Governments.

John Manley, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and Pierre Pettigrew, Minister for International Trade, today announced that Canada is joining the United States and Mexico in the formation of a North American Steel Trade Committee.

The committee, which will bring together officials of the three North American Free Trade Agreement governments and representatives of North American steel manufacturers, will address critical trade issues such as subsidies and other distortions in global steel markets. The committee will hold its inaugural meeting November 21 in Mexico City.

Canada, the United States and Mexico are already actively engaged in efforts through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to reach agreement among major steel producing nations to end subsidies to this sector. “The North American Steel Trade Committee will allow our three countries to adopt a common approach to global discussions aimed at bringing an end to these subsidies and the overproduction of steel worldwide,” Minister Pettigrew said.

“The integrated nature of the North American steel market makes it imperative that we work with our continental trading partners to ensure that steel trade operates as smoothly and efficiently as possible for the maximum benefit of both producers and users,” said Minister Manley.

The Government has also decided against implementing surtaxes on imports of certain steel products from the United States and other countries, as was recommended by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal. In 2002 the United States imposed surtaxes on a wide range of steel imports but exempted Canada. A panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) recently ruled against the U.S. surtaxes on steel from outside North America, a ruling the U.S. government is appealing. The uncertainty associated with the outcome of the WTO appeal process, combined with the importance of a smoothly operating integrated North American steel market for both producers and consumers of steel, convinced the Government that any import action would be counterproductive.

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