ROB GILLIES
Updated Tue, September 29, 2026
AP
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks after LNG Canada said it will go ahead with the Phase 2 expansion project at its LNG terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia, during an announcement in Vancouver, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP) (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney accused the U.S. owner of steelmaker Stelco, a subsidiary of Cleveland-Cliffs, of betraying Canadian workers Tuesday after it announced layoffs it attributed in part to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs — tariffs Cleveland-Cliffs' chief executive has publicly championed.
Carney singled out Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves, noting that he had applauded Trump's steel tariffs. Goncalves has called the 50% tariffs "a necessary step" to protect U.S. steelmakers.
"Our thoughts are with the workers and the families who have been betrayed by the company," Carney said.
Carney also threatened legal action against Cleveland-Cliffs, saying the Ohio-based company has binding employment obligations stemming from its C$3.4 billion ($2.4 billion) takeover of Stelco in 2024.
Stelco said up to 500 workers could be affected as it indefinitely idles cold-rolled and coated operations at its Hamilton, Ontario, plant and shifts production to its Lake Erie facility in Nanticoke, Ontario.
Cleveland-Cliffs said Monday the move does not shift steel production out of Canada: Output will be concentrated at Stelco's Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, Ontario, where it expects a significant number of affected Hamilton workers to be absorbed, with overall steel tonnage unchanged.
In a memo to employees, Stelco said U.S. tariffs had "significantly shrunk the market" for its cold-rolled and galvanized products. The company said demand in markets it traditionally serves fell almost 25% in the second quarter compared to the 2024 quarterly average, including a 10% decline in Canada.
The layoffs come amid an escalating Canada-U.S. trade war in which Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on Canadian steel and other goods and Canada has retaliated with tariffs of its own. At a White House event Monday announcing a new $15 billion steel plant in Iowa, Trump credited his tariffs with reducing foreign steel imports and attracting investment to the United States, saying companies were building plants there "because they don't want to pay tariffs."
Carney said the federal government had offered financial assistance to preserve jobs but did not disclose the amount or terms.
"There's money on the table from the federal government," Carney said. "The company made representations and has legal obligations for employment. We intend to use all powers that we have and pursue them to the fullest extent of the law."
The Canadian government approved Cleveland-Cliffs' takeover of Stelco in October 2024 on the condition that it meet legally binding five-year employment commitments, including maintaining at least the same number of unionized workers and the vast majority of nonunion employees.
Cleveland-Cliffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Carney's remarks.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks after LNG Canada said it will go ahead with the Phase 2 expansion project at its LNG terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia, during an announcement in Vancouver, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP) (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney accused the U.S. owner of steelmaker Stelco, a subsidiary of Cleveland-Cliffs, of betraying Canadian workers Tuesday after it announced layoffs it attributed in part to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs — tariffs Cleveland-Cliffs' chief executive has publicly championed.
Carney singled out Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves, noting that he had applauded Trump's steel tariffs. Goncalves has called the 50% tariffs "a necessary step" to protect U.S. steelmakers.
"Our thoughts are with the workers and the families who have been betrayed by the company," Carney said.
Carney also threatened legal action against Cleveland-Cliffs, saying the Ohio-based company has binding employment obligations stemming from its C$3.4 billion ($2.4 billion) takeover of Stelco in 2024.
Stelco said up to 500 workers could be affected as it indefinitely idles cold-rolled and coated operations at its Hamilton, Ontario, plant and shifts production to its Lake Erie facility in Nanticoke, Ontario.
Cleveland-Cliffs said Monday the move does not shift steel production out of Canada: Output will be concentrated at Stelco's Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, Ontario, where it expects a significant number of affected Hamilton workers to be absorbed, with overall steel tonnage unchanged.
In a memo to employees, Stelco said U.S. tariffs had "significantly shrunk the market" for its cold-rolled and galvanized products. The company said demand in markets it traditionally serves fell almost 25% in the second quarter compared to the 2024 quarterly average, including a 10% decline in Canada.
The layoffs come amid an escalating Canada-U.S. trade war in which Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on Canadian steel and other goods and Canada has retaliated with tariffs of its own. At a White House event Monday announcing a new $15 billion steel plant in Iowa, Trump credited his tariffs with reducing foreign steel imports and attracting investment to the United States, saying companies were building plants there "because they don't want to pay tariffs."
Carney said the federal government had offered financial assistance to preserve jobs but did not disclose the amount or terms.
"There's money on the table from the federal government," Carney said. "The company made representations and has legal obligations for employment. We intend to use all powers that we have and pursue them to the fullest extent of the law."
The Canadian government approved Cleveland-Cliffs' takeover of Stelco in October 2024 on the condition that it meet legally binding five-year employment commitments, including maintaining at least the same number of unionized workers and the vast majority of nonunion employees.
Cleveland-Cliffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Carney's remarks.
A $15 Billion Iowa Steel Mill Is Coming. What It Means for Nucor and Cleveland-Cliffs
Omor Ibne Ehsan
Tue, September 29, 2026
Key takeaways
The White House announced the construction of a $15 billion steel mill in Iowa by Mesabi Metallics, which will start production at 7.5 million tons a year and rise to about 10 million tons by 2030.
Quick Read
The $15B Iowa mill mirrors NUE's electric arc furnace model, pressuring CLF's higher-cost integrated operations when first steel arrives in 2030.
CLF dropped nearly 8% after Stelco indefinitely idled Canadian operations, showing how tariffs that prop up U.S. prices simultaneously shrank Cliffs abroad.
On Monday, September 28, 2026, The White House announced that Mesabi Metallics will build a $15 billion steel mill in Iowa, starting at 7.5 million tons a year and rising to about 10 million tons. Mesabi is privately held and foreign-owned, so you cannot buy shares in it.
andresr / Getty Images
For Nucor (NYSE:NUE) and Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF), the plant pressures price. First steel is expected in 2030, making this a valuation question today and an earnings question later, according to Mining.com.
Iowa Will Use the Electric Furnace Route Nucor Already Runs
The mill will convert iron ore into direct reduced iron and melt it in electric arc furnaces. Nucor already runs electric arc furnaces, while Cleveland-Cliffs operates traditional integrated operations that management describes as "miners, pellet producers, iron makers, steel makers, and downstream manufacturers."
The planned output is at about one-tenth of last year's U.S. steel production. The Export-Import Bank of the United States announced a $770 million direct loan for the associated Minnesota iron ore mine, and administration officials tied the project to steel tariffs.
Cleveland-Cliffs already dropped 7.84% on September 28 after its Canadian unit, Stelco, reported plans to indefinitely idle cold-rolled and coated operations at Hamilton Works, affecting about 350 jobs. Stelco blamed the 50% U.S. tariff on Canadian steel.
Tariffs cut both ways. The regime propping up U.S. prices shrank Cliffs in Canada. Nucor fell 1.1% that day, a decline likely tied to the Iowa project.
Nucor Stays Profitable While Cliffs Is Still Rebuilding
Nucor reported second-quarter adjusted EPS of $4.84 on $10.4 billion in sales. Its weak spot is expectations: on September 17, Nucor guided third-quarter EPS to $5.55 to $5.65, missing the $6.20 consensus, and shares fell about 5.8% the next day.
NUE Earnings Explorer — 24/7 Wall St.
Cleveland-Cliffs lost $0.25 a share in the second quarter after a full-year 2025 loss of $1.4 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs guided third-quarter adjusted EBITDA to about $575 million from $286 million, suggesting a floor is forming, although $7.7 billion of long-term debt leaves little room for a price war when the first-steel date arrives around 2030.
CLF Earnings Explorer — 24/7 Wall St.
Lens
Nucor
Cleveland-Cliffs
Steelmaking process
Electric arc furnaces
Integrated blast furnaces
Q2 per-share result
$4.84 adjusted EPS, according to Nucor
$0.25 loss
Year-to-date stock move
50.77%
-15.51%
Nucor screens better than Cleveland-Cliffs on this setup: Iowa mirrors Nucor's electric-furnace model, while integrated producers carry higher fixed costs. Nucor has gained 50.77% this year yet trades near 11 times forward earnings, with $244.52 under the average analyst target of $283.63.
NUE Price Target — 24/7 Wall St.
Cliffs, at $11.23 and down 43.67% over five years, needs contract resets and debt paydown before Iowa's output arrives. If management hits its leverage target of under 2.5x debt to EBITDA by mid-2027, or Nucor misses guidance, reconsider the ranking. I'd tag NUE stock a buy, and I'd avoid CLF stock for now.
CLF Price Target — 24/7 Wall St.
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