Ford says he had ‘very positive' meeting with U.S. ambassador to Canada
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Canada was 'very positive' and he believes the two countries are 'getting closer' to a new trade deal.
'I'm confident that we'll come out on the other end in fairly good shape, and that's what we need to do. We need to bring the temperature down. We both agree on that,' Ford said following his closed-door conversation with Pete Hoekstra.
The meeting comes a day before President Donald Trump plans to double his tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50 per cent.
Now in its fifth month, Trump's trade war had seen a 25 per cent tax placed on all Canadian goods that don't comply with the North American trade pact, in addition to the levies on steel and aluminum.
The Canadian government has responded with a suite of retaliatory tariffs and at a provincial level, Ford's government has introduced a number of its own measures, including removing U.S. alcohol from LCBO shelves and banning U.S. companies from participating in government procurement.
While Ford acknowledged that it will be up to Trump to make the 'final decision' on the two countries trade relationship going forward, he said he feels a mutually-beneficial agreement may be within reach.
'I just feel that, the conversations are getting very close to, hopefully, a real positive deal happening.'
Ford also said that, noting the ambassador doesn't speak for President Trump, the topic of U.S. products being removed from LCBO shelves did not come up during Tuesday's meeting, although the subject was broached when they spoke in May.
'It's very simple: drop your tariffs, we'll bring back the booze.'
Ford says U.S. broke its promise
Ford admitted he was 'obviously concerned' about the looming 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum. He said the move equates to the U.S. breaking a 'promise' that was made after the province agreed to remove a 25 per cent surcharge on the electricity it sends south of the border.
The surcharge on the Ontario power that goes to 1.5 million homes in Michigan, Minnesota and New York went into effect on March 10. Trump took notice and threatened to double the tariffs on steel and aluminum in response. Both measures were eventually walked back.
'I'm a man of my word. When we agreed, when I went down there (to Washington, D.C.) with Secretary (of Commerce Howard) Lutnick, they pull off the 25 per cent additional tariffs, we take off the surcharge that we put on the electricity,' the premier recalled.
'That promise was broken. So, you know, I gotta take a different approach.'
The surcharge was in effect for just one day and Ontario collected about $260,000 as a result, according to the Ministry of Energy.
Ford's comments come as Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc meets with Lutnick in Washington. The premier said he expects a call from LeBlanc Tuesday night for an update on that conversation.
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