What is Stelco and why has it become a flashpoint in the Canada-U.S. trade war?
Financial Post · Serah Louis ·
Ottawa is threatening to sue the steelmaker's American owner — the latest development in the growing saga of Stelco, a company with a storied history
Hamilton-based Stelco Holdings Inc. sent shockwaves through an already embattled Canadian steel industry when U.S. parent company Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announced on Sept. 28 it would indefinitely idle its Hamilton plant and lay off hundreds of workers. In response, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly has threatened legal action if Stelco does not preserve its Ontario jobs, citing commitments agreed upon under the Investment Canada Act when Cleveland-Cliffs first assumed ownership of the company. Joly’s moves are the latest development in the growing saga of Stelco, a company with a storied history that has become a flashpoint in the Canada-United States trade war.
What is Stelco and how did it come to be?
Stelco, the Canadian-based steelmaker that helped build Hamilton into “Steel City,” has been around for more than a century. It was originally incorporated in 1910 as the Steel Company of Canada, an amalgamation of five already-existing iron and steel companies: Hamilton Steel and Iron Co.; Montreal Rolling Mills Co.; Canada Screw Co.; Canada Bolt and Nut Co. and Dominion Wire Manufacturing Company.
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