Steel industry, labour leaders call for government action as U.S. tariffs spike

TORONTO — Canada’s steel industry needs the federal government to take swift action as it faces an existential threat from steeply increased U.S. tariff, said Catherine Cobden, head of the Canadian Steel Producers Association. “We’re going to be a deeply weakened sector in a very short period of time,” she said after the U.S. doubled its tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50 per cent. Industry players had hoped to get a last-minute reprieve on the U.S. metals tariffs, but when that didn’t happen it sent companies scrambling, said Cobden. "Steel was already ready and loaded, locked and loaded,…