Hamilton

EXCLUSIVE: Cleveland-Cliffs CEO accuses Canada of ‘bullying and harassment’ over Stelco threats

By
Joe Van Wonderen

Updated: 

Published: 

Lourenco Goncalves, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Cleveland-Cliffs, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the Stelco layoffs and steel tariffs.

The CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs said the company’s decision to issue hundreds of layoff notices at the Stelco plant in Hamilton, Ont., was a “business decision to concentrate production.”

In an exclusive interview with BNN Bloomberg Thursday, Lourenco Goncalves said he intends to rehire the laid off workers, calling the job cuts “temporary.”

“Stelco is having a great year, we are making money, the Canadian market continues to react positively to things that we are doing,” he said.

The federal government said Cleveland-Cliffs, who bought Stelco in 2024, made a pledge to protect jobs. But last month, the U.S. company announced it was shutting down part of its Hamilton operation and cutting up to 500 jobs due to U.S. tariffs put on Canada by the Trump administration.

Ottawa said the move breaks the commitments made under the Investment Canada Act.

Industry Minister Melanie Joly Stelco layoffs Industry Minister Melanie Joly said the federal government is weighing all options after Cleveland-Cliffs issued layoff notices to staff at Stelco's Hamilton plant.

Industry Minister Melanie Joly said “everything is on the table” on Wednesday, including a forced divestment of assets or financial penalties if it does not heed the federal government’s warnings to stop the cuts.

Goncalves called Joly’s comments “bullying and harassment.”

“We are not in Canada to lay off people, we believe in the workforce, we believe in the market, we believe that Canada is a country of laws,” he said, comparing any potential action by the federal government to when former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez nationalized the steel industry in 2008.

“I don’t think that Canada is Venezuela, let alone Venezuela under Hugo Chavez.”

A Stelco flag flies beside a Canadian flag at the steel production facility in Hamilton, Ont., on Monday, February 10, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn A Stelco flag flies beside a Canadian flag at the steel production facility in Hamilton, Ont., on Monday, February 10, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn

Goncalves said his company is prepared to go to court to defend their position and that they had not violated the deal they made with former industry minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.

Goncalves said that Champagne “rolled the red carpet for us” when Cleveland-Cliffs was orchestrating their purchase of Stelco.

“We did not expect less than two years after we acquired the company to be treated like a pariah,” he said.

“If that’s what Canada will do to attract foreign investment into Canada, I don’t believe that they will be very successful.”