Hamilton Chamber of Commerce Steel Industry agenda successfully endorsed by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce

· by Huzaifa Saeed

Hamilton, ON, September 21st: The Canadian Chamber of Commerce recently concluded its annual general meeting between September 16th-19th in Regina, Saskatchewan. The convention is centered around a policy process that featured almost 70 resolutions from Chambers of Commerce across Canada, which were then formally debated, resulting in adoption or rejection.

The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce is pleased to report back that its submission titled: “Support the Canadian Steel Industry and its Supply Chain Clusters” was overwhelmingly approved by the delegation and is now an official advocacy priority of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. The Hamilton Chamber served as the lead sponsor, with co-sponsorship from the Sault Ste Marie and Windsor-Essex Chambers of Commerce.  The policy was penned after extensive consultation with businesses in the Steel Industry, Industry Associations, and Chambers across Canada.

The policy recommends, that the federal government:

  1. Explore the legislated and voluntary expansion of government and public-private partnership procurement tools to evaluate and consider selection of local suppliers after fairly evaluating:a. Global environmental impact and cost assessment versus the imported alternative; (i.e.: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during production and transportation),b. Presence of comparable health and safety regulations during production and manufacturing;c. Where the exporting country does not allow similar (e.g.: Bilateral Exemption), fair and equal access to their markets for the same product.
  2. Retain and subsequently implement all current regulatory measures falling under Section 20 of the Special Imports Measures Act (SIMA) pertaining to China’s Non-Market Economy (NME) status for the purposes of calculating antidumping measures.
  3. Through legislative amendments to the Special Imports Measures Act (SIMA), continue to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the Canadian trade remedy system to bring it in closer alignment with Canada’s main trading partners, through the implementation of industry-led recommendations193, including as regards to transparency of import data, and reducing costs and increasing fair access for local industry to participate in related processes of Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT).
  4. Taking inspiration from the European Steel Technology Platform and “Framework for American Manufacturing” by the United States, develop a coordinated steel manufacturing strategy that amongst other action items, especially prioritizes investment in trade-enabling infrastructure.
  5. Given their role as suppliers of high-performance material in the manufacturing supply chain and in flowing down R&D improvements194, prioritize allocation of carbon pricing revenue to help incentivize energy-intensive industries like steel to further develop low-carbon processes, technology and innovation and other capital investments.
  6. In design of regulatory intervention regimes and in partnership with provinces, recognize the role of steel industry as one of Canada’s trade-exposed industrial facilities, and to evaluate expanding the free allowance coverage under carbon pricing programs, to minimize uncertainty, delay and costs.
  7. Implement measures that will encourage local suppliers and domestic steel content to be used in all provincially and federally funded projects if the materials can be supplied from domestic source.

“The Canadian Steel Industry is recognized globally for its excellence in research and development, product innovation, partnerships with the manufacturing industries and human capital,” said Keanin Loomis, President & CEO, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce. “Our resolution, therefore, calls for the federal government to level the playing field by following suit on recent commitments by the United States and the European Union towards combatting oversupply, improving trade remedies and anti-dumping measures as well as reevaluating their procurement criteria for their upcoming multi-billion infrastructure investments” added Loomis.

CLICK HERE to read the full policy paper.

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For more information please contact:

Huzaifa Saeed | Policy & Research Analyst | Hamilton Chamber of Commerce | e:h.saeed@hamiltonchamber.ca | t: 905-522-1151 ext: 230