‘Suck It Up’: Trump-Supporting Canada Billionaire Bets on Truce

Sept. 4, 2025, 11:00 AM UTC

Barry Zekelman is the rare Canadian likely to benefit from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The steel pipe manufacturing business that made him a billionaire is largely based in the US, so he stands to gain from reduced import competition there. The 58-year-old chief executive officer of Zekelman Industries Inc. has been a Trump supporter for years, and now he’s working to convince other Canadians to join his way of thinking: If you can’t beat them, join them.

Barry Zekelman
Source: Zekelman Industries

While Trump’s threats of using economic force to take over Canada have provoked widespread outrage and sparked consumer boycotts, Zekelman said in an interview that his home country ...

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