Premier Ford Optimistic Following Talks With Lutnick in Washington

WASHINGTON—Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Thursday that a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has lowered the temperature on the ongoing trade war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump last month.

Ford is in Washington with federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne to meet with Lutnick, at the end of another rollercoaster week in trade relations between the two countries.

On Tuesday, Trump threatened to double steel and aluminum duties on Canada in response to Ford slapping a 25 percent surcharge on the province’s electricity exports to three U.S. states. Before the end of that day Ford backed off the surcharge and Trump backed down on doubling the steel and aluminum tariffs.

But still on Wednesday an additional 25 percent import tariff was put on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S., including from Canada.

Canada responded with 25 percent tariffs on another $29.8 billion worth of American goods, which took effect just after midnight Thursday. Canada last week applied 25 percent tariffs to $30 billion in U.S. goods in response to the first round of tariffs from the U.S.

The meeting Thursday with Lutnick also included U.S. Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer, and other officials from Commerce. It was to last only an hour but went on much longer and Ford called it “extremely productive.”

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“We shared a tremendous amount of use back and forth and I’m feeling very positive,” he told reporters on his way out of the meeting.

“And I just look forward reaching out again next week, but this I can honestly say it was the best meeting I’ve ever had coming down here.”