L’Orignal braces for impact of hike to U.S. steel tariff [Video]

Workers and the community around a major eastern Ontario steel plant are nervously watching what the doubling of U.S. tariffs will mean for the area’s economy. 

Ivaco Rolling Mills is a major employer in L’Orignal, Ont., a village about 90 kilometres northeast of Ottawa, that draws workers and creates spinoff business for the surrounding region. 

Ivaco’s parent company, Heico, announced the layoffs of 140 workers in March, with about one-third of those cuts affecting the L’Orignal plant. A combination of reduced hours, furloughs, and permanent layoffs to absorb the blow of tariffs has followed, according to the union local.

Eric Fournier, president of the plant’s United Steelworkers union local, told CBC News on Wednesday when the tariffs were announced that there hadn’t been word of any cancelled orders related …