Ontario Premier Doug Ford has met with incoming Prime Minister Mark Carney to discuss Ford’s upcoming meeting with the Trump administration in Washington.
“We agreed on the need to stand firm and strong in the face of President Trump’s threats, including additional retaliatory tariffs in response to U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, which will raise costs for American businesses and families,” Ford said in a March 12 social media post.
The U.S. imposed 25 percent tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum on March 12, and Ottawa has responded with tariffs on $29.8 billion in U.S. goods.
Ford said Canada would not relent until “the threat of tariffs is gone for good,” and said he looks forward to meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other members of U.S President Donald Trump’s economic team in Washington, D.C., on March 13.
Carney thanked Ford for the meeting on social media, saying “We’ve got a big fight ahead of us, and we’ll be working together every step of the way.”
Carney also met with outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on March 10 on Parliament Hill, telling reporters that the two discussed Canada-U.S. relations and national security, and that the leadership transition would be “quick.”
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On March 10, Ford announced he was putting a 25 percent surtax on electricity exports to the three American states of Michigan, Minnesota, and New York. Trump responded the next day by saying he would double the tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50 percent.
Following a phone call with Lutnick on March 11, Ford announced he was suspending the surcharge on electricity after the two agreed to meet in Washington to discuss a “renewed” United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Trump said the same day he would not go ahead with 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum, keeping them at 25 percent.
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who will also travel to Washington for the meeting, said during a March 12 press conference that the two sides would be discussing “the urgency of lowering the temperature, [and] eliminating the tariffs on steel and aluminum,” as well as the 25 percent tariffs announced on March 4, and the incoming reciprocal tariffs on April 2.
“We’re going to do everything we can do get Canada out of these measures,” he said.
He also said the purpose of the meeting is “not about renegotiating the USMCA.”
