This paper presents the design of a nonlinear control law for a typical electromagnetic actuator system. Electromagnetic actuators are widely implemented in industrial applications, and especially as linear positioning system. In this work, we aim at taking into account a magnetic phenomenon that is usually neglected: flux fringing. This issue is addressed with an uncertain modeling approach. The proposed control law consists of two steps, a backstepping control regulates the mechanical part and a sliding mode approach controls the coil current and the magnetic force implicitly. An illustrative example shows the effectiveness of the presented approach.