Ontario Premier Urges Canada and US to Avoid Trade War and Confront China

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to media at a premiers' meeting in Halifax on July 15, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is advocating for a united front between Canada and the United States to confront trade issues arising from China, rather than resorting to a damaging trade war against each other.

Ford told CNN this week that it’s time to focus on China’s ploy of using Mexico to ship goods into North America and he called on President-elect Donald Trump to turn his attention to the east rather than imposing 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian exports after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Trump has said he will enact the tariffs if Canada doesn’t tighten border security to stop the flow of illegal immigration and drugs into the United States. Ford, however, said Trump should treat Canada like the ally it is rather than being at odds with such an important trading partner.

“I just feel we aren’t the enemy,” Ford said in an interview with CNN. “The big problem, in my opinion, is China, cheap Chinese products going through Mexico. They’re slapping a ‘made-in-Mexico’ sticker on and shipping [products] up through the U.S. and Canada and costing American and Canadian jobs.”

He also called on Mexico to pick a side.

“Mexico has to make a decision. You’re either with Beijing or you’re with Washington,” he added. “I’ll tell you what Canadians are … with Washington.”

This is not the first time Ford has pushed for the two countries to join forces against China’s bid to inundate Canada and the U.S. with cheap products.

Ford has berated Mexico in recent months, saying it is acting as a “back door” for Chinese imports, especially when it comes to vehicles and auto parts. The premier said this practice circumvents rules-of-origin stipulations laid out in the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

Ford is not alone in his focus on Mexico. The country’s premiers met last month and are in agreement that Canada needs separate trade deals with the U.S. and Mexico in order to ensure fair trade, Ford told reporters last month.

CUSMA is up for review in 2026 and Trump has said he plans to address the issue of Chinese imports at that time.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government shares the premiers’ concerns about Chinese investments in Mexico. Trudeau said he highlighted these concerns directly with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Brazil last month.

On the same day Trump announced 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico unless they curb illegal immigration and drug flows, he also upped his previously announced China tariffs of up to 60 percent by another 10 percent.

Retaliatory Measures

Focusing on China rather than slapping tariffs on each other makes more sense when both Canada and the U.S. would be so adversely affected, Ford said.

“The supply chains are so integrated, we’re so much stronger together,” he said. “The only people that win is China. Americans lose. Canadians lose. And that’s a problem.”

If Trump moves ahead with his threat to impose 25 percent tariffs, Ford said he is ready to retaliate by halting energy exports to the northern U.S. states that rely on them.

The majority of Ontario’s electricity exports go to New York, Michigan, and Minnesota, powering 1.5 million homes. But the premier noted that cutting off electricity would affect states as far west as Wisconsin.

“You know, that’s the last thing I want to do,” he said during the interview. “I want to sell more electricity, more power to our U.S. friends and closest allies in the world. But that’s a tool that we have in our toolbox.”

Ford also noted the impact tariffs would have on oil. Roughly 60 percent of America’s total oil imports come from Canada, making any extra taxation on it detrimental for consumers at the pump.

“We ship down 4.3 million barrels every single day,” he said. “If there was a tariff on that, that would increase gas by $1 a gallon, that wouldn’t go over very well.”

When asked about Trump’s ongoing jibes directed at Canada and Trudeau, Ford said the incoming president “has a sense of humour.”

He glossed over Trump’s mocking social media posts calling Trudeau the “governor” of “the Great State of Canada.” The president-elect has repeatedly said Canada should join the U.S. and most recently said “many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State.”

“I’m more concerned about the trade, making sure that we secure trade on both sides of the border,” Ford said.

Media Blitz

The premier’s interview with CNN represents his latest effort to engage with U.S. media to emphasize that the tariffs threatened by Trump would adversely affect consumers on both sides of the border.

Ford has also made appearances on Fox News and CNBC to directly address American audiences where he has repeatedly expressed his fondness for the United States and its residents.

The media appearances are just one part of Ford’s campaign to present Ontario as a key U.S. trading partner.

Ontario recently released an ad campaign touting the province as the country’s third-largest trading partner and the No. 1 export destination for 17 states.

The ad is set to run in Washington through the end of the month and will be launched across the U.S. in January, running through the end of March. The commercial is expected to have 100 million viewers.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who was also interviewed by Fox, met in person with governors in Las Vegas earlier this month. Like Ford, she has been pushing the importance of her province’s trade with the United States.

Ford said it is the job of Canada’s premiers to talk to U.S. governors, their American counterparts, to emphasize the importance of trade unfettered by tariffs between the two countries.

Ford agreed that Canada has some work to do at the border and with military spending—two things he said he has long been advocating for.

“The president has asked to secure our border. I agree with him 1,000 percent. We need to secure our border,” he said. “We have to meet our 2 percent commitment to NATO, and we’re going to do both. So those are two asks that we’re going to get done.”

Aside from asking Canada to tighten border security, Trump has also been critical of Ottawa for failing to up its monetary investments in defence to meet NATO’s spending requirement of 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Trudeau has said Canada “fully expects” to reach NATO’s defence spending target by 2032, ignoring ongoing calls from the U.S. to meet the target this year.

Ford said he spoke out about the issue “well before President Trump was elected.”

“We have to meet the 2 percent, we have to secure our borders, and then we move forward, and sit down and have a discussion,” Ford said. “I'd love to sit down with the president, businessman-to-businessman, and have a conversation with him because we are so much stronger together.”