OPINION: Carney’s industrial carbon tax will make tariff pain worse 

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Self-inflicted wounds can be the most painful and we can’t ignore those injuries during a trade war.

United States President Donald Trump is making good on his threat to double his tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum producers.

“A 50 per cent tariff would completely shut us out of the U.S. market,” said Marty Warren, United Steelworkers national director for Canada.

This is the kind of news no Canadian wants to hear.

Nobody can control Trump’s actions other than Trump. That’s why it’s vital for the Canadian government to do all it can to reduce the pain it inflicts on Canadian workers and businesses.

With Trump punishing Canadian steel and aluminum manufacturers, there’s no way Carney should be adding to that pain with his industrial carbon tax, which will also punish Canada’s steel and aluminum industry.

During the federal election, Ontario’s steel industry workers warned that Carney’s hidden industrial carbon tax would be devastating.

“The industrial carbon tax that Mark Carney has pledged to keep and undoubtedly increase will decimate the city of Hamilton and all its supportive industries,” said Nathan Bergstrand, business manager for Canadian Piping Trades Local 67 in Hamilton. “I have spoken with top officials at our most vibrant steel producers and industrial carbon tax costs upwards of $800 million a year and will increase once the consumer carbon tax is shifted upwards to producers.”

The government reports: “One of Canada’s largest industries, the steel sector, generates annual sales of more than $11 billion, including $3 billion in exports and directly employs about 35,000 workers.”

Why is Carney ploughing ahead with his industrial carbon tax that will damage Canadian industries, including steel producers?

That steel production is concentrated in Ontario. Why isn’t Ontario Premier Doug Ford demanding that Carney scrap Ottawa’s industrial carbon tax instead of cranking it up and making things worse?

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe already scrapped his province’s tax and Premier Danielle Smith says she won’t increase Alberta’s industrial carbon tax.

Remember when Ford was warning about a carbon tax recession back in 2019?

Ford used to rightly point out that carbon taxes on farmers who grow food and truckers who deliver food will only make food more expensive in Canada.

It’s the same deal with the industrial carbon tax that Carney is hatching.

Carney plans to shift the visible carbon tax we used to pay at the gas pump and on our home heating bills over to a hidden industrial carbon tax.

Businesses will have to pass on the cost of the hidden industrial carbon tax to ordinary Canadians by raising prices.

Canadians understand that a carbon tax on business is a carbon tax on Canadians that makes life more expensive, with a recent Leger poll showing 70% of folks believing the cost of the industrial carbon tax will be passed on to consumers.

When fuel refineries and utilities get hit with a hidden carbon tax, the real cost will be paid by everyday working people trying to buy food, drive to work and heat their homes.

Canadians will still be punished with the cost of Carney’s hidden carbon tax on businesses, but it will be more difficult to see where the pain is coming from.

For Canadian businesses already struggling with Trump’s tariff war, a hidden industrial carbon tax at home makes it tougher to compete. Carney’s hidden carbon tax will push Canadian businesses to cut production here and take their work south of the border, just like Ontario steelworkers warned.

When a bully that’s much bigger than you is ready to hit you, it’s not a good idea to punch yourself in the face.

Carney says he is listening to Canadians and that he wants to stand up for all Canadians.

He should start by scrapping his hidden industrial carbon tax.

Franco Terrazzano is federal director and Kris Sims is Alberta director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation