Ontario Premier Doug Ford pushed for the United States and Canada to simmer down over their feud on tariffs, arguing the Trump administration’s tariffs on aluminium and steel will only create “a tax on the American people.”
President Donald Trump has insisted that the U.S. is “not going to bend” on tariffs it will implement on its neighboring country, which is set to go into effect on April 2. Amid the feud between the two countries, Ford has ceased threatening the U.S. with a 25% tariff on outgoing electricity from Canada, which came after U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called the Ontario premier and “put an olive branch out there” to negotiate on Thursday afternoon.
“As there is a fever pitch right now, we need to bring down the temperature, and I thought it’d be in the best interests of America and Canada to go in there and let’s get to the USMCA table,” Ford argued on Fox News’s America Reports. “Let’s start talking about it. Tell us what you need, and we’ll tell you what we need. But I can tell you one thing: you can’t turn on a switch and all of a sudden create a car plant. You know, the auto pack has been around since 1965. You can’t unscramble an egg; you have to make a larger omelet, and that’s what we need to do.”
Ford has sought to create a way in which both the U.S. and Canada can financially flourish by creating “an AM-CAN fortress.” He cited how his country has various metals and materials that the U.S. needs, which comes as China is “cutting” the U.S. off.
The Ontario premier was then presented with an October 2016 interview he partook in, in which he said he would not “waiver” in his support for Trump. Ford insisted that his current frustration with Trump and the U.S. comes from how the president “turned the guns on his closest friends and allies,” stating he will not “roll over” and instead work to create “a stronger AM-CAN fortress” so both countries can thrive.
CAN TRUMP HOLD HIS COURSE ON TARIFFS?
On Wednesday, Canada announced a new round of tariffs on the U.S., which is set to affect roughly $21 billion in trade with the latter country.
Amid these stewing battles in trade, Lutnick offered his defense for the president’s tariffs by stating they would boost economic growth once companies revert back to domestic production in the U.S. He also claimed that any recession that could occur would be due to “the Biden nonsense” the nation was previously under.