The two largest mining companies that operate in Sudbury have both declined to offer any comments with respect to the idea of the United States imposing 25 per cent import tariffs on Canadian products.
The idea of tariffs has been promoted by newly elected U.S. president Donald Trump, although the idea appears to be on a temporary hold until the beginning of March.
Vale Base Metals and Glencore Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (INO) have chosen not to comment in response to an inquiry from Sudbury.com about how their local operations would be impacted, specifically with respect to the production of nickel and copper.
Both metals are considered critical minerals in terms of the demand for materials needed for battery electric vehicles.
"We have no comment at this time," said an email response from the Vale Base Metals media office.
"Following up on your request on tariffs issue, and having discussed this internally, we decline to comment at this time," was the response from Sudbury INO senior communications specialist Iyo Grenon.
"It’s constantly changing dynamics, and it makes it challenging for us to comment on impacts," she added.
Neither company would comment on the amount of nickel or copper that is exported to U.S. markets, although it is believed to be significant.
The Centre for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) said Canada is the biggest source of the United States mineral imports, providing key sources of uranium, aluminum, nickel, steel copper and niobium.
Putting it into perspective, a published commentary from the CSIS centre said in 2023 Canada accounted for $47 billion worth of mineral imports for the U.S. compared to $28 billion for mineral imports from China.
Stainless steel is the largest end use for nickel, accounting for nearly two thirds of total consumption. Nickel is also used as an alloying agent in the production of ferrous and non-ferrous metal products, said a Government of Canada website.
It is also used in electroplating, where a thin layer of nickel is applied to a metal object for decorative purposes and to enhance resistance to corrosion and wear, said the website.
While nickel has long been used in nickel-cadmium batteries, its growing role in lithium-ion battery production for EVs is an important shift in its applications.
Len Gillis covers health care as well as the mining industry for Sudbury.com .