Steel Summit: Zekelman advocates for 'Fortress North America'

“Canada’s a salmon wrestling with a grizzly.
You know, they’re just not tough enough yet.”

He made these and other pointed remarks when he sat down for a Fireside Chat with SMU Editor-in-Chief Michael Cowden at SMU’s Steel Summit in Atlanta on Monday.

Woe Canada

Right now, Zekelman said Canada is in a “bad spot,” labeling it a “unique” situation.

He noted that Canada consumes approximately 14 million tons of steel annually, while producing around 13 million tons. Of those, it exports 6 million tons to the US, while importing 8 million tons, including 3 million tons from the US.

“So we’re importing 5 million tons into Canada from countries the likes of Korea and Vietnam, and Indonesia and Thailand and Turkey,” he said.

“Canada only has 35% market share in its own market. That’s ridiculous,” he added. “The US, at least, has 80% share in the US. Canada should have 75 or 80% share. Then we wouldn’t have to ship our tons to the US and aggravate it.”

Cowden asked about the situation in the Canadian steel industry. In particular, with US tariffs, pending USMCA negotiations, and a lackluster demand situation, how are those mills managing?

Zekelman was frank: “They’re on their knees.”

At the same time, he was adamant about the necessity of a steelmaking industry in Canada, rather than importing from higher-polluting countries like India and China.

“We need steel. It’s coming from somewhere. You better make it,” Zekelman said. “Might as well make it with the cleanest, best production in the world, while taking care of your people and taking care of your communities.”

‘Fortress America’

Zekelman wasn’t all doom and gloom on the North American trade front.

One audience question asked about a “Fortress North America” trade policy.

“I couldn’t agree with you more, whoever asked that question. It should be ‘Fortress North America,’” Zekelman said. “They should develop a North American policy.”

“And I’ve had my misgivings with Mexico, particularly on conduit,” he added. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want them to do well. I just don’t want them to be this massive back door that takes advantage of us, and I don’t want Canada to be that, either.”

He continued: “So we have to get together and realize that together, we will be unstoppable.”

That would entail implementing the same types of systems, values, and border protection at all our borders to “take care of the situation once and for all,” he said.

Whereas currently, he commented, “We are being picked apart and gamed. And it’s not, it’s not the way it should be.”

While that is a great idea in the abstract, Zekelman said the rise in anti-American sentiment in Canada since the election of Donald Trump is real and unfortunate.

“We’re so close, we’re such good friends, we’re such good neighbors, we’re such good trading partners,” Zekelman said. “We have to find a way to take that back and to make it good. And, hopefully, we can do that.”