Ottawa is playing hardball with Cleveland-Cliffs. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly sent a letter Monday to Stelco president and general counsel Paul Simon demanding the U.S. steelmaker's plan for complying with its legally binding Investment Canada Act undertakings within five business days — warning that court action, divestiture or monetary penalties could follow.
Cleveland-Cliffs bought Hamilton-based Stelco for $3.4 billion in a deal completed in November 2024, committing to five-year undertakings including keeping at least the same number of unionized employees in Canada, maintaining the Hamilton headquarters and honouring pensions. Last week the company announced plans to idle its galvanized-steel business and cut up to 500 jobs at Hamilton Works and Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, blaming 50 per cent U.S. steel tariffs and weak demand.
"I trust that such steps will not be necessary," Joly wrote, in a warning that leaves little doubt she is prepared to escalate. Under the Act, Ottawa can seek superior court compliance orders, force a divestiture or impose monetary penalties on foreign buyers that break their undertakings.
United Steelworkers locals 1005 in Hamilton and 8782 in Nanticoke called the company's rationale "disingenuous," with local presidents Ron Wells and John McElroy noting Cliffs' own CEO has publicly boasted his "fingerprints" are on the tariff policy he now blames for the cuts.
