Trump’s Canadian Tariffs Tear at Bond Between Twins Towns in Ontario and Michigan

Trump’s Canadian Tariffs Tear at Bond Between Twins Towns in Ontario and Michigan - The New York Times

Skip to contentSkip to site index

Log in

* Home
* + U.S.
+ International
+ Canada
+ Español
+ 中文

U.S. Tariffs and

Trade

* U.S.-Canada Trade War
* Trade Deficit
* Tariff Tracker

!An aerial view of a town on a river with a steel mill in the distance.

Trump’s Tariffs Tear at the Bond Between Twin Border Towns

A 50 percent U.S. tariff on Canadian steel is crippling a major Ontario mill, driving mass layoffs and rupturing a century of cross-border life with Michigan.

*The Algoma Steel Inc. mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, was founded in 1901 and began operation the following year.*

Trump’s Tariffs Tear at the Bond Between Twin Border Towns

A 50 percent U.S. tariff on Canadian steel is crippling a major Ontario mill, driving mass layoffs and rupturing a century of cross-border life with Michigan.

The Algoma Steel Inc. mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, was founded in 1901 and began operation the following year.

Credit...

Supported by

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Listen · 8:21 min

*
*
*

By

Matina Stevis-Gridneff

Photographs by

Cole Burston

Reporting from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Sept. 13, 2026

Before Matthew Shoemaker became mayor of Sault Ste. Marie — before he could read or ride a bike, even — he knew what formed the bedrock of his hometown: the Algoma Steel factory, and the Michigan town across the river.

Sitting at his desk this month, both weighed heavily on him.

For over a century, Sault Ste. Marie has grown around Algoma Steel. Now, the Trump administration’s tariffs on Canadian steel exports threaten to devastate the local economy and its 80,000 people. And the close bond with the city’s border twin in Michigan has been ruptured as a consequence of the escalating trade war between the two nations. Canadians, who frequently cross the border to live parts of their lives on the other side of the river, are hurt, angry and no longer feel welcome in the United States.

“The tariffs are so specific to our main industry that it feels personal, it feels like the American administration is attacking Sault Ste. Marie,” Mr. Shoemaker, 37, said in an interview this month.

Mr. Shoemaker’s own father worked at Algoma Steel. His mother immigrated from Italy after World War II, sponsored by an uncle who worked at the mill. So did the brothers who came with her, and her sisters’ husbands.

“It is a central entity in the history of so many people’s families here,” Mr. Shoemaker said. “The fact that it has fallen on hard times causes a real emotional reaction.”

Image

!Looking down a street lined with two pillars linked by an arched blue and yellow sign overhead that reads: Sault Ste. Marie, Algoma’s Friendliest City.

*Downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. A smaller city by the same name is across the river in Michigan, and ties on the two sides are tight.*

Matina Stevis-Gridneff

is the Canada bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of the country.

*
*
*

Related Content

*
*
*
*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Site Index

Site Information Navigation

* ©2026 The New York Times Company
* NYTCo
* Contact Us
* Accessibility
* Work with us
* Advertise
* T Brand Studio
* Privacy Policy
* Cookie Policy
* Terms of Service
* Terms of Sale
* Site Map
* Canada
* International
* Help
* Subscriptions
*