Canada's minister of Industry Melanie Joly has given US based Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. a 15 day deadline to address its failure to uphold commitments it made when they acquired Canadian steelmaker Stelco Inc. or face potential legal action.
Joly announced the deadline placed on Cleveland-Cliffs on social media on October 22. Media sources report Joly sent the company an 11 page letter accusing them of failing to honor six binding commitments made when it acquired Stelco, including its employment guarantees. According to the letter, Cleveland Cliffs agreed that Canadian employment must average no less than 1,766 per year, equal to 100 percent of the average full-time equivalent employment in the 12 months ending June 30, 2024. The cuts would bring them below the threshold of jobs the company promised to maintain.
Additionally, Joly stated that Cleveland-Cliffs made a commitment whereby they pledged to advocate for policies that benefit both the US and Canadian steel industries, yet, company chief executive officer Lourenco Goncalves endorsed Section 232 tariffs against Canada in testimony before the Congressional Steel Caucus on January 14, 2026, and Cleveland-Cliffs was the first signatory of a January 28 industry memo to President Donald Trump advocating for steel tariffs. Joly wrote that tariffs on Canadian steel were already a foreseeable possibility in October 2024 when they consummated the purchase and that the undertakings reflected this.
Cleveland-Cliffs' position has been that the tariffs have made it too difficult financially to run the mill. Yet, in their most recent quarterly announcement, Gonclaves stated that the third quarter 2026 was Stelco's strongest quarter since they acquired the company, and the hot rolled market has improved turning Stelco into a positive EBITDA contributor, but then continued “more needs to be done by the Canadian government to correct a clearly oversupplied market for galvanized steel in Canada.” He then promised in conclusion, “…total production tonnage at Stelco will be maintained… and approximately 2,000 Canadian jobs [will be] preserved.”
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, Joly's first letter, dated October 5, gave Stelco five business days to show how it would keep its job commitments. Stelco president Paul Simon replied October 9 that the breach claim was false and the company remained in compliance, and the first layoffs took effect October 11.
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