Ontario Premier Doug Ford fired back at President Trump following his latest vow to double tariffs on steel and aluminum, saying during an interview that Canada will “not back down” and called on the commander-in-chief to shift his focus on China instead of the country’s northern neighbor.
“We will not back down. We will be relentless. I apologize to the American people that President Trump decided to have an unprovoked attack on our country, on families, on jobs, and it’s unacceptable. Let’s work together. Let’s get to the table if he has issues, and let’s sort this out,” Ford said during his Tuesday appearance on MSNBC.
Ford warned that if the tariff war between Washington and Ottawa continues, factories in the U.S. could face shutdowns. The Ontario premier also urged Americans and business executives to speak out against the recent levies.
“You see the market tumbling. Consumer confidence is down and if it continues on with this the assembly plants in Michigan will shut down and around the country, whoever makes autos as well as businesses, they are gonna hurt and these pensions — when the market goes down, it’s gonna affect people’s pensions, so I am not too sure why he continues to attack his closest friends and allies,” Ford said on Tuesday.
“But we need the American people to speak up, we need the CEOs to actually get a backbone and stand in front of him and tell him that this is going to be a disaster,” the premier added.
Trump said Tuesday that the planned tariffs on Canada’s steel and aluminum double — from 25 percent to 50 percent — as Ontario’s government imposed an electricity surcharge a day earlier, affecting three U.S. states.
The commander-in-chief threatened to slap more levies against Ottawa, with his administration planning to implement reciprocal tariffs starting on April 2 on all nations that have a tax on U.S. goods. That would include an additional levy on cars, which the president said will “essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada.”
Ontario said that a 25 percent surcharge on electricity exports will start on Monday, affecting Michigan, New York and Minnesota. The additional tax will impact around 1.5 million homes and businesses and cost up to $400,000 a day.
Ford said on Tuesday that the tariff back-and-forth will hurt U.S. manufacturing.
“You need the aluminum. You need our high-grade nickel, and I want to send more high-grade nickel. You need our electricity. You need the 4.3 million barrels of oil that gets shipped down. I want to, I want to make sure we build an Am-Can fortress,” Ford stated, adding that “fighting like this does not make sense, but I will respond appropriately…stay tuned.”
Trump appeared to dismiss Ontario’s recent electricity surcharge, contending that Canada is a tariff “abuser” and that Washington will get its money back once the reciprocal levies kick into effect on April 2.
“Because our Tariffs are reciprocal, we’ll just get it all back on April 2. Canada is a Tariff abuser, and always has been, but the United States is not going to be subsidizing Canada any longer,” Trump wrote Monday night on Truth Social. “We don’t need your Cars, we don’t need your Lumber, we don’t your Energy, and very soon, you will find that out. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
If both North American countries plunge into a recession, only Trump should be blamed, Ford said. He also said that the two sides should resolve the trade seesaw through talks as the prolonged fight will end up harming both American and Canadian families.
“And it’s not just American and Canadian. It’s going to affect the whole world. While China is ramping up for the last 10 years, as we’ve all been sleeping, they’re taking over the critical mineral sector in the entire world,” Ford told MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera.
“But there’s one area that has more critical minerals than anywhere in the world, that’s Ontario, and I want to make sure it goes to our closest friends and allies and protect America and Canada,” he added.
