Ontario Premier Doug Ford proposed Wednesday that Canada could drop its tariffs on US imports — if President Trump did the same for America’s northern neighbor.
“President Trump’s tariffs will put millions of American jobs at risk and raise costs for families across the U.S.,” Ford wrote on X ahead of the US president’s expected “Liberation Day” announcement.
“I’ll be making the case all day directly to Americans: drop the tariffs and let’s work together to be the richest and safest two countries on the planet.”
Ford is the chair of Canada’s Council of the Federation, made up of the premiers of the country’s 13 provinces and territories. However, he has no authority to drop tariffs imposed by the federal government in Ottawa.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government’s response to Trump’s threats is to “Fight. Protect. Build.”
Trump is always “always open to a phone call” with any country that wishes to negotiate tariffs, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.
The administration has yet to reveal what exactly will go into the global reciprocal tariff package and what countries, if any, will be given exceptions.
Trump initially said his approach will match the rates other countries impose on the US — but later suggested he would be “nicer” than those nations are to the US.
Canada has been one of the countries most impacted by Trump’s ongoing tariff threats.
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Before the April 2 announcement, the president threatened the northern neighbor with 25% tariffs if Canada didn’t step up its border security to crack down on fentanyl.
Last month, Ford announced that he was slapping an additional 25% charge on customers in Michigan, Minnesota and New York who receive Ontario energy, but later backed down and apologized to the American people.
