TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford was spending Wednesday meeting with Canada's incoming prime minister and speaking to his fellow premiers ahead of a trip Thursday to Washington, D.C., to talk trade with a top U.S. official.
Ford, federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the United States, are set to meet with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, who invited Ford amid a major ratcheting up – then down – Tuesday of the trade war between the two countries.
The U.S. has imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and aluminum imports effective Wednesday and the Canadian government announced tariffs on U.S. goods worth nearly $30 billion in retaliation.
Trump had threatened Tuesday to set the steel and aluminum tariff at 50 per cent in response to Ontario placing a surcharge on electricity it exports to three U.S. states, but both sides agreed to back off those moves after Lutnick offered the meeting.
Ford said he expects to talk about the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement with Lutnick, but suggested he won't walk away from it with any major moves on tariffs or trade.
"I want to make sure everyone understands the expectation is to go down there, build that relationship, talk about the USMCA," he said Wednesday outside his office.
"We aren't walking away with the USMCA, but for years being in business, it's all about building the relationship, understanding what they require, what our needs are, and move forward."
In several interviews with American cable networks, Ford has been pitching USCMA renegotiations as an alternative to tariffs to address any perceived trade imbalances. The agreement is soon up for review.
"Our message down there tomorrow is, let's stop this," he said Wednesday.
"It's going to hurt both economies. It's American people that are going to get hurt. Canadians are going to get hurt. Let's sit down and start moving forward on what you want to see in the USMCA and what we want to see in the USMCA."
LeBlanc, however, said he does not see Thursday's meeting as one about the USMCA, rather he hopes to talk about the tariffs that are in place now and others that are set to come into effect April 2.
"The conversation tomorrow will be, what can we do to deal with this completely unjustified application of tariffs to steel and aluminum from Canada that came into effect today," he said at a press conference.
"If we can sort of clear the underbrush and get to a position where we can get to April 2 with a coherent plan, I certainly think that would be the objective of the conversation tomorrow."
Lutnick told Fox Business he expects to have a “nice conversation” with Ford to “lower the temperature” and will save the details for when Canada has a new prime minister after a possibly looming election.
“I think it’s just to level-set things, make sure we know each other,” Lutnick said. “And then we are going to negotiate with all of Canada, so obviously we are going to wait for there to be a new prime minister and then we’re going to talk.”
Those comments come after others Lutnick made the previous day to CBS, describing Trump's threat to increase the steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 per cent as a tactic to "break some guy in Ontario" who put a surcharge on energy.
Ford brushed aside those remarks, saying the U.S. can call the end result a win if they want.
"Whatever," he said. "They're playing politics. (It's neither) here nor there."
The premier met Wednesday morning with prime minister-designate Mark Carney to discuss tariffs and free trade. The two had a productive discussion, agreeing on the need to stand firm in the face of Trump's tariffs, Ford said.
Ford, who is also head of the group of Canada's 13 premiers, also had a call Wednesday morning with the other provincial leaders, and ahead of the discussion he said he would get advice from his counterparts.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2025.
Allison Jones, The Canadian Press
