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Ontario, B.C. premiers call for reprisals against U.S. for Trump's latest tariffs
Canada “can’t keep rolling over for President Trump,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters in Charlottetown as he entered a meeting with his fellow premiers. He was responding to the announcement of plans for new tariffs from U.S. President Trump on Monday .
“We can’t back down. We need a full Team Canada approach. Everything is on the table, but Ontario can’t do it alone. We need the support,” Ford insisted.
“I’m tired of the bully trying to take our lunch money all the time. We always seem to be on our back heels. We need to be on the offence … We need to stand up to the bully, and we need to hit him tariff to tariff — all the way across the board. And that’s my message to the prime minister. We need a plan moving forward.”
Ford was the only premier to provide an estimate for the economic impact of the tariffs: “What I understand, it’s $28 billion across the country.” Ontario will be hit the hardest, he added.
The premiers were meeting Tuesday for the start of a first ministers conference, which will include the prime minister and Indigenous leaders.
The Trump administration said the tariffs would come next month under Section 338 of the Tariff Act as payback for Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. autos, boycotts by provincial liquor boards of U.S. alcohol, and lack of access for U.S. exporters to Canada’s dairy market. Section 338 allows the U.S. president to impose tariffs on countries deemed to be discriminating against American commercial interests.
Ford said Canada needs to retaliate harder.
“We need a plan from a prime minister to come in, and if these talks fail in 29 days, we need to hit them back as hard as we can,” said Ford.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday that he and Trump had agreed to “intensify” trade negotiations after the new tariffs were announced. He did not rule out further actions against American imports.
“We have a situation where the American tariffs, the 338 tariffs, will come into effect in 29 days, and we will look at all options in terms of how we would respond if they do come into effect,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday.
Negotiations with the U.S. are now centred on whether to preserve the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, which Washington declined to renew by the deadline on July 1. The deal is now subject to annual reviews and negotiations until 2036, after which it expires, unless the three countries agree to fully renew it at any point.
B.C.’s David Eby said he agreed with Ford about fighting back.
“There is not a chance in hell that U.S. alcohol is going back on a shelf in British Columbia. And I’m proud of that, and I know the British Columbians support that. And the idea of the president that he can bully us into whatever he wishes is incorrect.”
While conceding more tariffs and trade action will hurt companies and families in B.C., he said he shared Ford’s assessment of Trump trying to bully Canada.
“This attempt by the president to hurt Canadians to, for some reason, attack our country, was entirely predictable. (He) will probably do it again. And there’s no reason to believe that this is the bottom in terms of where he’s willing to go.”
Not all the premiers agreed with Ford that Canada needed to hit the U.S. harder.
“It most certainly is time for us to intensify our negotiations, be very ambitious,” said Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe. “The ultimate goal isn’t to counter-tariff and further weaken the North American economy. The ultimate goal is to get to a renewed agreement, a trade agreement that is going to build and ensure that our North American economy is more competitive moving forward.”
This latest round of tariffs differs from previous rounds in that they will not exempt goods covered by CUSMA.
Eby insists that this move cannot foreshadow the end of CUSMA.
“The end of the trade agreement between the United States and Canada would be devastating for Americans and for Canadians alike. The extent of that self-inflicted injury on the United States would be profound. U.S. business will be very clear with the president about that.”
The prime minister said he planned to host a call with the premiers Tuesday before travelling to meet them in person in Charlottetown later this week.
He said Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc will convene the Canada-U.S. Advisory Council this afternoon.
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