{"id":637226,"date":"2026-04-29T22:16:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T22:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/637226\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T22:16:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T22:16:23","slug":"steel-for-booze-u-s-ambassador-suggests-tariff-deal-says-canadian-mould-maker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/637226\/","title":{"rendered":"Steel for booze? U.S. Ambassador suggests tariff deal, says Canadian mould maker"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Windsor-area mould maker contemplates shifting part of business to U.S.:<\/p>\n

Windsor Morning10:52Business owners from the tool and mould sector have wrapped up 3 days of meetings in Ottawa <\/p>\n

Canadian mould makers met in person with the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, last week in Windsor, Ont., after the recent tariff increases on steel and aluminum crossing the border.<\/p>\n

A U.S. Embassy spokesperson confirms a meeting took place with local officials Apr. 22.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two days prior, Jonathon Azzopardi, president of Laval Tool & Mould Ltd. in Tecumseh, Ont., spoke in Ottawa at the first of three days of a House of Commons industry standing committee about the big hike.<\/p>\n

He, along with other Windsor-area mould makers, were invited to meet with Hoekstra\u2019s camp after they connected with local Conservative MPs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a big surprise,\u201d he told CBC Radio Windsor Morning<\/a> host Amy Dodge Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"LavalLaval Tool & Mould Ltd., is located just outside of Windsor, Ont. (Dalson Chen\/CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. did not waste any time in setting up this meeting. I think it’s important that we note that they set up the meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Azzopardi says Hoekstra came with a specific message, asking the industry to be vocal about what they\u2019re experiencing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about what a trade deal could look like, and nobody in the room could make a trade deal, obviously, but he came here to try and talk about what a deal would look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the White House quietly announced changes to tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper imports. They went from only applying to the metal segment of products to being put on the full customs value.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it was choreographed. He [Hoekstra] pulled out a list, out of his right breast pocket, and it was one page of the ‘highest-ranking irritants’<\/a>, he called them, between Canada and the U.S., and at the top of the list was U.S. alcohol on Canadian shelves,\u201d said Azzopardi.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly think that \u2026 if Carney was in that office on Wednesday \u2014 and if Trump was in that office \u2014 I think you would have had a deal. The United States is ready to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Azzopardi\u2019s company employs more than 100 people. He predicts similar-sized shops only have three to six months before they have to make what he calls the \u201ctoughest decision\u201d of their lives.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration announced last week<\/a> it\u2019s offering Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum companies immediate tariff relief if they move production stateside.<\/p>\n

It’s something Azzopardi says he\u2019s considering.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it rings more true today than ever. As we wake up this morning, most companies are waking up to the their first invoices to that tariff that was released on Easter weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe production floor at the Circle 5 mould making company in Windsor, Ont. (Saylo Lam)<\/p>\n

Even if it\u2019s not a complete relocation, Azzopardi says other options are being explored, including upping their presence in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a systematic approach of getting companies to look at expanding outside of Canada, relocating to the United States. It’s a very strategic and well-thought-out plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Windsor West MP reviews Liberal budget and weighs in on metal tariff impact:<\/p>\n

Windsor Morning8:40Local Conservative MP Harb Gill gives review of Liberal government’s spring economic update<\/p>\n

Windsor West Conservative MP Harb Gill, who was not invited to the meeting with Hoekstra, calls what the U.S. did by dramatically raising the tariffs on metals \u201cabsolutely unfair,\u201d and says the Liberal government needs to act immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to offer some sort of support where they can keep body and soul together. If this does not get addressed sooner rather than later, we won’t have those people. And once these companies leave \u2026 they’re not coming back. That’s the challenge,” he said on Windsor Morning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The vice-president of policy with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce says he\u2019s concerned about the mould making industry \u2014 specifically in southwestern Ontario.<\/p>\n

\u201cWindsor is disproportionately impacted,\u201d Vince Caron told CBC Radio\u2019s Windsor Morning Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cImmediate risk really. It also has ripple effects over the entire province because the companies here, they’re the tool makers. They’re the Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caron says the large rise in tariffs undermines the entire North American economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s not as an easy solution when you think of moving down to the U.S. The grass isn’t always greener. More than 100,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs have already been lost during the presidency of Trump since January of last year because tariffs are impacting the manufacturers over there.\u201d<\/p>\n

CBC News has reached out to the federal government for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,48],"class_list":["post-637226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}