Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I also would like to thank the members of the committee for having invited us to address them this morning.
On behalf of the 3 million members of the Canadian Labour Congress, I want to thank the committee for the opportunity to present our views on the impact of tariffs on Canadian businesses, workers and communities.
The CLC brings together Canada's national and international unions, along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour, and over 100 labour councils. Employees represented by affiliated unions of the CLC work in virtually all sectors of the Canadian economy and all occupations and in all regions of the country.
Canada's unions support the Canadian government's action to date against the unjustified and unwarranted American tariffs on steel and aluminum. Trump's aggressive trade provocations against Canada are a totally unjustified and unwarranted sanction against a fair trading ally. Canada's unions have asked the federal government to put together a rapid response working group with industry and worker representatives to develop a package to support workers, businesses, and communities.
The work of the rapid response working group would complement that of the federal steel and aluminum trade-monitoring committees, as well as any provincial responses.
As part of this joint work, we recommend that a comprehensive jobs impact assessment be completed to inform the ongoing development and deployment of industry and workplace assistance measures. We see three critical areas in which government action will be necessary.
First is the fact that Canadian producers will have temporarily lost U.S.-based customers. We encourage the federal government to explore a wide range of possible industry supports, such as loan guarantees for small and medium-size businesses to help them weather the storm and policy measures that prioritize the use of Canadian-made steel and aluminum for energy projects within Canada. This would enable the government to meet its stated aim of developing Canada's energy resources in an environmentally responsible way.
Second, Canadian producers and manufacturers will now be competing with the excess supply of steel and aluminum diverted from the U.S. market. Elements of a package to address this could include action by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal and Canada Border Services Agency to address any trade diversion caused by U.S. measures, as well as additional resources devoted to border agents and inspections to ensure that the Canadian market isn't flooded with dumped products. We welcome the government's recent introduction of regulatory changes related to anti-circumvention investigations, scope proceedings, and price distortions, as well as recently announced funding for the new officers. We look forward to working with the government on the implementation of these changes.
Finally, the steel sector supports 22,000 direct jobs across Canada. The aluminum sector supports nearly 10,000 direct jobs, mainly in British Columbia and Quebec, with supply chains in related industries affecting more than 100,000 additional workers, as you heard earlier. Worker support packages should keep in mind that the impact extends beyond directly employed workers to workers in related industries and in small communities. We recommend building on the package developed for the softwood lumber industry, as my colleague said earlier; working with the provinces to provide additional investments for training supports to allow affected workers to upskill, with income supports; extending the EI duration for workers in affected regions; and extending EI work-sharing and adjustment programs that help to minimize job losses when there is a temporary slowdown in business activity so that employers may continue to operate.
Finally, we appreciate the committee taking the time to hear our views on this important issue. We look forward to working with the federal government to ensure that we can mitigate job losses and community hardship in the face of this serious economic threat.
Merci.