Ontario Premier Doug Ford apologizes to Americans amid tariff war: ‘I love the American people’

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is now apologizing to the American people for the fallout from the ongoing trade negotiations between Canada and the United States — and calling for an end to the “chaos” to save “millions of jobs.”

Ford made assurances that a trade deal would be settled between the two North American nations prior to the Apr. 2 deadline during an interview on WABC’s “Cats and Cosby” — and added a very Canadian “sorry, eh,” directed toward US citizens.

“I want to apologize to the American people. I spent 20 years of my life in the US, in New Jersey, in Chicago. I love the American people. I absolutely love them,” Ford told hosts John Catsimitides and Rita Cosby.

“We’re going to get through this. We’re stronger together. We’ll always be united,” the Canadian premier added.

Ford gave insight into his negotiations with Trump Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who he heaped praise on, along with President Trump.

“Secretary Lutnick and President Trump are brilliant businesspeople. They are hard negotiators. We need to put this behind us and move forward and build the two strongest countries in the world,” Ford said.

The Ontarian premier further characterized the conversations with the Trump administration as positive and heading in a productive direction.

“I said, ‘This is chaos. We have to put an end to it. We have to sit down and move this [tariff] deal up from April,’” Ford relayed on the show.

He added that he sees the US and Canada as fighting on the same side of a broader economic war.

“I think that conversation between [myself and Lutnick] has saved millions of jobs on both sides of the border,” Ford told the New York radio hosts, adding, “Our real enemy is China. It’s not each other.”

“While we’re going back and forth with each other, China is building up their critical minerals and building up everything else. We have to keep an eye on China,” Ford said.

This interview comes just hours after Ford stood down in a tariff battle against Trump.

Ford announced a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to the US but then quickly suspended the tariff on Tuesday after Trump responded to the increase with an additional 25% tariff increase on Canadian aluminum and steel.

Ontario’s energy services price increase would have affected Americans near the Great Lakes in Michigan, Minnesota, and New York.

Ford and Secretary Lutnick announced on Tuesday in a joint statement that they had avoided the international escalation and will meet in DC this week to resolve issues with increased tariffs before next month’s deadline.

“Secretary Lutnick agreed to officially meet with Premier Ford in Washington on Thursday, March 13 alongside the United States Trade Representative to discuss a renewed USMCA ahead of the April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline,” Ford posted on his X account.

“In response, Ontario agreed to suspend its 25 per cent surcharge on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York and Minnesota,” Ford and Lutnick added in that joint statement.

The trade conflagrations added to woes on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Complex losing 478 points at the closing bell on Tuesday, bouncing back late after even deeper losses earlier in the day.

“Markets are going to go up, and they’re going to go down but, you know what, we have to rebuild our country,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.