(Bloomberg) -- Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s chief executive Lourenco Goncalves is calling on Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to implement punishing steel import tariffs to protect the nation’s industry.
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The notoriously combative US executive and vocal public supporter of President Donald Trump said on Monday that Carney and his cabinet should enact “significant” trade protections for the nation’s steel industry.
Goncalves, who bought one of Canada’s biggest steelmakers last year, blamed foreign imports for hurting the Canadian market, though he didn’t point at American steel imports for the trouble.
“That was the main reason why I bought Stelco, because I believe in Canada. The problem is that apparently the Canadians, particularly the Canadian politicians, they don’t believe in Canada,” Goncalves said Monday in an earnings call. “Let’s see how Prime Minister Carney will react. He’s not a central banker anymore. I don’t like central bankers, but now he’s a prime minister, so time to step up and do what’s necessary for Canada.”
The call for stringent levies on steel comes as Canada pushes to relax tariff levels imposed by the US while carving out as many exceptions as possible. The country last week said it will reduce the amount of foreign steel importers can bring into the country tariff-free, a move to help Canadian producers suffering from Trump’s levies on the sector.
“Canada can fix themselves. They import an amount of steel into Canada that’s equivalent to the size of the Canadian market,” Goncalves said. “The very first thing they need to tell foreigners, get out of my market.”
Canada is the largest foreign supplier of steel to the US, according to US Commerce Department data.
Goncalves also said on the earnings call that Cliffs has engaged JPMorgan Chase & Co. as an adviser for potential sales of the company’s non-core assets, which “could represent billions of dollars of value.” Cliffs is also receiving interest in some of its recently idled facilities, which could also sell for cash, he said.
Shares of the Cleveland-based steelmaker rose almost 16% Monday in New York to the highest price since early March.
--With assistance from Doug Alexander.
(Adds CEO comments on sales process for non-core assets and shares in last two paragraphs.)
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