Canada bans Russian aluminum, steel imports

Canada will ban imports of aluminum and steel products from Russia to hold the Russian government accountable for its continued war with Ukraine, Canadian Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland said March 10, the same day the US' previously announced 200% tariff on Russian aluminum took effect.

"We continue to do everything we can to cut off or limit the revenue used to fund Putin's illegal and barbaric invasion of Ukraine," Freeland said in a statement. "Canada, and our partners, have already sanctioned the Russian Central Bank and capped the price of Russian oil and gas. And now, we are ensuring Putin cannot pay for his war by selling aluminum and steel in Canada, in coordination with action taken by the United States today."

For aluminum, the import ban will include unwrought, sheet and finished products such as containers and household items. For steel, the ban will impact iron and non-alloy steel, semi-finished products, and finished products such as tubes and pipes.

In 2021, Canada imported C$45 million (about $32.5 million) of aluminum and C$213 million of steel products from Russia, according to the statement.

Unwrought aluminum has generally comprised the bulk of Canada's aluminum imports from Russia, according to S&P Global and Canadian trade statistics data. Unwrought products imported into Canada from Russia totaled about 2,500 mt in 2022, down from over 9,000 mt in both 2020 and 2021. Canada is one of the world's largest primary aluminum producers.

Canadian steel imports under HS code 72 from Russia fell to about 36,000 mt in 2022 from over 113,000 mt in 2021 and over 70,000 mt in 2020.

Freeland did not specify when the ban would take effect. Her office was not immediately available for comment.

Following US trade actions

Canada's move to ban Russian steel and aluminum follows the US' slate of trade actions against Russia announced in February, headlined by the 200% tariff on Russian aluminum imposed under the government's Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The US already applies a package of quotas and lower tariff rates on steel and aluminum imports from most countries under Section 232

The US' 200% tariff will expand to include any imported aluminum products made with Russia-origin aluminum.

In the February announcement, to invite other countries to apply similar measures, the White House said, "any country that imposes a tariff of 200% or more on its imports of aluminum articles that are products of Russia may be exempt from the tariff imposed by this proclamation (the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs)."

Canada is already exempt from the US Section 232 tariff on steel and aluminum and is the top exporter of both metals to the US.

Separately, the US will raise duties April 1 on dozens of imported Russian products to 70%, an action the US has been able to take since revoking Russia's permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status last year. The 70% tariff applies to multiple steel products, ferrous scrap, ferroalloys, and pig iron.

Prior to the hike, the non-PNTR US duties on Russian products ranged from negligible rates to 35%.

The 70% tariff also applies to aluminum in addition to the 200% tariff, effectively amounting to a combined 270% on aluminum from Russia.

US aluminum imports from Russia in 2022 rose from about 180,000 mt in 2020, but have fallen drastically since they exceeded 750,000 mt/year in 2016 and 2017.