Carney accuses US steelmaker of betraying Canadian workers after layoffs tied to Trump tariffs

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney accused the U.S. owner of steelmaker Stelco, a subsidiary of Cleveland-Cliffs, of betraying Canadian workers Tuesday after it announced layoffs it attributed in part to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs — tariffs Cleveland-Cliffs’ chief executive has publicly championed.

Carney singled out Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves, noting that he had applauded Trump’s steel tariffs. Goncalves has called the 50% tariffs “a necessary step” to protect U.S. steelmakers.

“Our thoughts are with the workers and the families who have been betrayed by the company,” said Carney, who noted he wanted to be blunt.

Carney also threatened legal action against Cleveland-Cliffs, saying the Ohio-based company has binding employment obligations stemming from its C$3.4 billion ($2.4 billion) takeover of Stelco in 2024.

Stelco said up to 500 workers could be affected as it indefinitely idles cold-rolled and coated operations at its Hamilton, Ontario, plant and shifts production to its Lake Erie facility in Nanticoke.

In a memo to employees, Stelco said U.S. tariffs had “significantly shrunk the market” for its cold-rolled and galvanized products. The company said demand in markets it traditionally serves fell almost 25% in the second quarter compared to the 2024 quarterly average, including a 10% decline in Canada.

The layoffs come amid an escalating Canada-U.S. trade war in which Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on Canadian steel and other goods and Canada has retaliated with tariffs of its own. At a White House event Monday announcing a new $15 billion steel plant in Iowa, Trump credited his tariffs with reducing foreign steel imports and attracting investment to the United States, saying companies were building plants there “because they don’t want to pay tariffs.”

Carney said the federal government had offered financial assistance to preserve jobs but did not disclose the amount or terms.

“There’s money on the table from the federal government,” Carney said. “The company made representations and has legal obligations for employment. We intend to use all powers that we have and pursue them to the fullest extent of the law.”

The Canadian government approved Cleveland-Cliffs’ takeover of Stelco in October 2024 on the condition that it meet legally binding five-year employment commitments, including maintaining at least the same number of unionized workers and the vast majority of nonunion employees.

Cleveland-Cliffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Carney’s remarks.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks after LNG Canada said it will go ahead with the Phase 2 expansion project at its LNG terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia, during an announcement in Vancouver, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney applauds while sitting with Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson before speaking after LNG Canada said it will go ahead with the Phase 2 expansion project at its LNG terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada, during an announcement in Vancouver, on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney laughs when asked if Canada will apologize to the U.S. for the sake of a trade deal, during an announcement about funding for oceans protection, in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney listens during an announcement about funding for oceans protection, in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A 77-year-old Florida man was put to death Tuesday for his conviction in a deadly hammer attack on a woman decades ago, becoming the 16th person executed to date this year in the nation’s busiest death chamber.

Curtis Wilkie Beasley was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery and grand theft auto in the 1995 hammer attack on Carolyn Monfort at her home south of Orlando.

The curtain to the death chamber went up at 6 p.m., and Beasley was already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm. A spiritual adviser was seated at Beasley’s feet and remained there throughout the execution.

When a team warden asked if he wished to make a final statement, Beasley said, “I want to apologize for all the mistakes I made.”

The execution began immediately after that. Beasley began to breathe heavily as the three-drug cocktail began flowing. The heavy breathing eventually subsided, and the warden checked Beasley’s eyes and shouted his name, but there was no response.

A medic was called into the death chamber at 6:11 p.m. and declared Beasley dead soon after.

The Florida Supreme Court recently rejected arguments that executing a man his age who's suffering from cognitive decline would amount to cruel and unusual punishment, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene Tuesday. Beasley is Florida’s seventh prisoner over 70 to be executed this year.

Beasley also was the 29th person, all men, who have been executed around the U.S. this year. On Wednesday Tennessee plans to execute a woman for the first time in 200 years by giving a lethal injection to Christa Pike, 50, for killing a classmate in a jealous rage when both were teens.

Court records show Beasley had been staying at Monfort’s home in Dundee in August 1995 while he was pressure washing and painting nearby apartments owned by her son-in-law. Monfort's daughter went to her home after being unable to reach her for two days and found her body in a blood-splattered laundry room.

Monfort had suffered multiple blunt-force trauma injuries to the head, and a bloody hammer head was found wrapped in a towel nearby, according to investigators.

Authorities began searching for Beasley after a witness reported seeing him driving what turned out to be Monfort's car. Investigators determined Beasley had traveled to Miami and later relocated to Alabama, where he was arrested while working under a false name for an electrical company, officials said. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 1998.

The state is getting closer to last year's total of 19 executions, which was a record in Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so.

Two more executions are scheduled for this year, but Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who leaves office in January, has temporarily paused the next one.

William Lee Thompson, 74, is scheduled to be executed Oct. 13 for raping and fatally beating a woman at a Florida motel in 1976. After a doctor this month determined Thompson might be suffering from dementia, DeSantis ordered a panel of three psychiatrists to examine him to determine if he is competent to be executed.

DeSantis issued similar stays in 2023 and 2025 but both executions proceeded following evaluations.

William Reaves, 77, has an Oct. 20 execution date. He was convicted of fatally shooting a deputy outside a convenience store in 1986.

All Florida executions are carried out via injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

FILE - Law enforcement vehicles sit parked outside the Florida state prison in Starke, Fla., on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/David Fischer, file)