U.S. President Donald Trump that his administration will be imposing substantial import tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, which had previously been exempted.

The potential for falling demand and lost jobs are at the forefront of the minds of more than 150,000 workers, who are either directly or indirectly linked to Canada鈥檚 industry.  

Nowhere is this truer than in Hamilton, Ont., where many steel workers are of the trade war.

Known as Steel Town, the city is home to two of the world鈥檚 steel giants, Stelco and Dofasco. The tariffs will not only affect the city鈥檚 massive metal operations, but also smaller companies like Hamilton Stamping.

A small shop with only six employees and small contracts, the company finds itself facing the tariffs with .

"We're trying to do the job; we're trying to pay the bills," Joseph Tielemans of Hamilton Stamping told CTV鈥檚 Peter Akman. 鈥淲e have orders that are already pending, and it鈥檚 not like we can say, because of this, it鈥檚 going up to this price.鈥�

Traditionally, rising costs comes with the possibility of layoffs -- a fact that鈥檚 on the minds of many in Hamilton.

鈥淧otential jobs could be lost at this point as a result of not having to be able to produce the kind of steel the United States is getting from Canada," said Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger.

But Gary Howe, president of United Steel Workers Local 1005, said the tariffs might actually end up making more work for Canadians .

鈥淲e鈥檒l have to be able to produce more steel for the Canadian market,鈥� Howe said.

Workers are hoping that a compromise can be found soon, before the industry really feels the effects of the tariffs.

"Every decision affects a lot of lives,鈥� said one Hamilton steel worker. 鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be people who are hurt and people who are not."

Another Ontario city expecting to be impacted by the U.S. tariffs is Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

Sault Ste. Marie has produced steel for more than 100 years, with Algoma Steel being the city鈥檚 largest private sector employer, and the second largest employer in all of northern Ontario. 

鈥淥bviously these tariffs have us very concerned,鈥� Christian Provenzano, mayor of Sault Ste. Marie, told CTV News.

The company employs a larger number of the city鈥檚 residents, with many smaller businesses in the area existing to serve the plant.

In a statement to CTV News, Algoma Steel CEO Kaylan Ghosah said the 鈥渢ariffs will have a damaging impact on Algoma and its U.S. customers.鈥�

Algoma was ready to move out of creditor protection with a potential sale, but some worry that now lenders could use the tariffs as a way to renegotiate the deal.

But Canadian companies aren鈥檛 going to be the only ones feeling the sting of the tariffs, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $16.6 billion countermeasures in retaliation for the tariffs.

鈥淥bviously this is not a good thing that the Americans have done,鈥� Terry Sheehan, MP for Sault Ste. Marie, told CTV News. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to cause job loss on both sides of the border.鈥�

This is because the trade relationship that exists is largely balanced, with almost equal amounts of steel travelling between the U.S. and Canada.

While Canadian steel makes up just six per cent of the American market, U.S. steel represents almost 30 per cent of the Canadian market, meaning American companies will be even harder hit by tariffs.

鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be American companies that are going to have their costs go up dramatically because they use our steel,鈥� Provenzano said.

While the tariff announcements have left some workers feeling stuck in the middle of the trade war, Provenzano says that Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma aren鈥檛 too worried just yet.

鈥淲e鈥檙e confident that if we have the province鈥檚 support and the Federal government鈥檚 support, and the federal government makes sure we don鈥檛 have excess of steel now flooding the Canadian markets that we鈥檒l be able to work through the short term on this and come out the other end stronger for it,鈥� Provenzano said.

With files from CTV News' Peter Akman and CTV News Northern Ontario's Jairus Patterson