Ontario Premier Doug Ford says Canada and the United States need to “make a deal” as President-elect Donald Trump continues to threaten sweeping tariffs on both countries.
Ford made the comments on Friday, one day after Trump responded to his threat to halt energy exports to the United States if Trump carried out one.
Trump told a CNBC reporter at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday that it was “fine” if Ford did that, adding that it was “good.” He then went on to claim that the United States “subsidizes” Canada to the tune of US$100 billion annually – a claim he has made in the past.
“Well, what you don’t hear on the tape after that is him saying, ‘I really want to make a deal with Canada.’ This is the first time he’s said that, and I respect the position he’s coming from. “I’m sure he respects the position we’re coming from,” Ford said Friday.
“He also mentioned that he has a lot of friends in Canada. Well, we have a lot of friends in the States – that’s why we needed to make a deal because we’re part of the bigger family.”
CNBC did not broadcast Trump’s comments about wanting a deal, but a reporter told the broadcast that Trump told him off-camera afterward that he hoped “we can work something out.”
How Ontario is preparing to respond to Trump’s threat
Shortly after winning the presidential election in November, Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico if both countries did not address illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling into the United States.
Since then, Ford and Canada’s prime minister have held meetings with the federal government to discuss potential responses, with Trudeau sharing an “overview” Wednesday of his government’s plan to beef up border security in response to the tariff threat.
After the meeting, Ford, who said he now believes there is a “100 per cent” chance the tariffs will be imposed in early January, threatened to “cut off” millions of Americans living in the border states from Ontario’s energy exports.
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Furthermore, government sources told Global News that the province is also considering restricting imports of US-made alcohol, and limiting exports of important Canadian minerals to the United States.
They described the plan as “escalation maneuvers” that are still under development. One source added that the government is “very serious” about this approach, even if the prime minister has made personal reservations about cutting off power supplies to millions of American homes and businesses.
Ford said on Friday that he had spoken to several American politicians in recent days, and said they were not singing the same tune as Trump.
“I hear: Let’s get moving, let’s make a deal and get this done,” Ford said.
“We will get through this. Maybe some bumps in the road; we just have to be prepared.”
-With files from Colin de Mello and Isaac Callan
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