Luxembourg-based Tenaris’ Algoma Tubes’ plant in northern Ontario, Canada, has announced that it is temporarily laying off 40 workers and adjusting production at a Canadian steel pipe plant because of uncertainty in the steel market following tariffs imposed by the US.
David McHattie, a vice president for Tenaris Canada said, “The implementation of a tariff has created an unsustainable market to serve our US customers.” McHattie added that the employees were recently hired in January to meet new demand for Tenaris products.
The company was also affected by a flood of steel pipes and tubes used in drilling and transporting crude oil into Canada from Asian producers seeking new markets, threatening additional jobs in the Canadian pipe-making sector. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the Canadian government is considering putting quotas or tariffs on certain steel imports from all its trading partners as part of its safeguard actions.
Tenaris has been operating in Canada for the past 50 years and is a big supplier to the country’s energy industry.