OTTAWA — The U.S.-led global trade war ramped up Tuesday as President Donald Trump signed an executive order to double tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50 per cent, effective after midnight, a blow Canadian steel producers say will devastate their industry.

It’s the latest salvo in a war Canadian metals producers say Ottawa is losing.

Canadian steelmakers blasted the Liberal government for a little-noticed move during the federal election campaign that saw Ottawa give a six-month reprieve on Canadian counter-tariffs on a wide range of U.S. steel imports to this country , giving American producers an advantage.

When Trump levied 25 per cent surcharges on Canadian and other global steel and aluminum imports on March 12, Canada retaliated the next day with 25 per cent counter-tariffs on

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