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Proposed tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum to the United States will only hurt Americans, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard said on Friday.

“Protectionist policies, although they may sound good, always hurt the country that institutes them, not the other way around,” Couillard said at a press conference in Montreal.

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On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he wants to impose import duties of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum.

Canada is the largest supplier of both steel and aluminum to the U.S. Ninety per cent of all aluminum produced in Canada and 60 per cent of all aluminum produced in North America comes from Quebec.

“The people that are going to be the most affected by an announcement like yesterday’s, and softwood before, are the Americans themselves. They’re going to pay more, pay more for their homes, pay more for their cars, pay more for everything because of these protectionist announcements that maybe may sound good for some, for a while, but ultimately penalize the country that decides to embark in this direction,” Couillard said. “Open markets create jobs, closed markets kill jobs and they will see it as well south of the border.”