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Stelco owner disputes Ottawa's claim it broke takeover commitments

Cleveland-Cliffs is seeking a meeting with Industry Minister Mélanie Joly as the two sides give conflicting accounts of employment and trade-policy obligations.

Channel: CBC News ·

CanadaStory of October 28, 2026Trari Newsroom

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Stelco owner says it's in 'full compliance' with legal obligations, wants to meet industry minister

Things we can learn from the video

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0:35McGregor explains Cleveland-Cliffs' letter seeking a meeting with Joly over its Stelco takeover commitments.
0:58The company says it is complying with all 34 undertakings agreed under the Investment Canada Act.
1:46Cleveland-Cliffs says its full-time employment total exceeds the required level by 113.
2:26The letter criticizes Ottawa's stance on Chinese electric-vehicle tariffs and addresses trade-advocacy commitments.
4:13Joly says the companies have not respected their undertakings on jobs and tariff advocacy.
4:50Whether the dispute leads to a meeting or legal action remains unresolved.

Stelco's American owner says it has met every commitment attached to its takeover of the Canadian steelmaker. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says it has failed to honor promises on jobs and tariff advocacy.

The disagreement follows layoffs at Stelco in Hamilton, Ontario. Canada's Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC News) reports that Cleveland-Cliffs, the Ohio-based company that acquired Stelco in 2024, has written to the federal government seeking a meeting with Joly.

Reporting from Ottawa, Janyce McGregor explains that the company claims full compliance with all 34 undertakings agreed under the Investment Canada Act when it bought Stelco. On employment, Cleveland-Cliffs says it has 113 more full-time employees than its commitments require. That is the company's account, not an agreed finding between the parties.

The dispute also extends beyond staffing. McGregor describes passages in the company's letter criticizing the Canadian government's position on tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and addressing commitments concerning trade advocacy.

Joly offers a sharply different assessment in a recorded hallway interview. "So the position of the government is that Stelco CEOs and Cleveland-Cliffs CEOs have not respected their undertakings," she says. She identifies both job numbers and a commitment on tariff advocacy as areas where the government believes the companies have fallen short. The report's description says she believes Ottawa has "a very strong case."

The report ends without a resolution: Cleveland-Cliffs wants a meeting, while it remains unclear whether discussions will take place or the disagreement will move toward legal action.

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