Like many of you, I was really disappointed to see the USMCA come through without the permanent exemption of the steel and aluminum tariffs. This threat is still sitting there as a threat to people who work in your facilities, and really to supply chains across our country. It's a deep disappointment.
The government said that they would have the backs of Canadian steelworkers. What I can see is that they're moving very slowly on following through on that. Things are not happening quickly enough. Now we have this exemption, with an unknown future for everyone. What I'm experiencing down in southwestern Ontario—and I know some of my other colleagues in Ontario are as well—is that shops are closing. The small folks just can't weather this. I know that you're some of the larger players in the industry. We have those as well, who are trying their best to not lay people off and to make sure that they can see the benefit of their investments in what they want to do in the years to come.
This committee did a study very early on in 2015—I think it came out in 2017—on the Canadian steel industry's ability to compete internationally. The issues that you're facing are not new or unknown to this government, but the movement they've had has been so extremely slow.
One of the producers in my region said that in this last year alone, by Global Affairs' own numbers, some of the dumping has increased by up to 200%. That's 200% over the last year. Clearly, we're not doing everything we can to support you, to keep your industry strong, and to keep those jobs protected. For that I'm just shaking my head because there are things that you're saying today that we can do.
I think the safeguard measures are important. I just wanted to ask Mr. McHattie about the safeguard measures. Have you been speaking to the government about what you think those should look like? They aren't applied across the board, of course. Some were announced for energy, but certainly non-energy is still not captured in that. I have folks who want to see all of steel have the safeguard measures in place. I ask both of you if you've been involved in conversations around the safeguards, and what does the government need to do?