Premier Doug Ford, angry the U.S. is imposing a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian aluminum, wants Ontarians to buy Canadian.
Ford told reporters gathered for an announcement on childcare funding President Trump stabbed Canada in the back, barely a month after the new trade deal between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico went into effect.
"Who does this? In times like this, who tries to go after your closest ally, your closest trading partner, your number one customer in the entire world? Well, President Trump did this," said Ford.
Trump announced the tariffs during a campaign-style stop at a Whirlpool plant in Ohio.
"Canada was taking advantage of us, as usual," Trump declared. "The aluminum business was being decimated by Canada."
Ontario, alone, does $390 billion in trade a year with the U.S.
The premier said he was given a heads up by U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Robert Lighthizer. He said tariffs are coming on Canadian steel too, although he could not say for how much.
During negotiations on the Canada-U.S-Mexico Agreement, the Trump administration slapped a 10 per cent tariff on aluminum and a 25 per cent tariff on steel. Canada responded with $16.6 billion in tariffs of its own. The measures were lifted last year soon after the new trade deal was reached.
Ford also spoke with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland who headed Canada's negotiating team during those trade talks, and encouraged her to place retaliatory tariffs on "as many goods as possible."
Freeland will release a list of products Canada will tariff on Friday.
Premier Doug Ford on March 21, 2020. (Photo taken from YouTube.)
"We're supposed to be part of the big family, and he comes and backstabs us like this? Unacceptable," fumed Ford. "I'm a businessman. I would never go after my number one customer and slap them in the face like President Trump did."
Ford urged manufacturers and packaging companies to label their products "Made in Canada" or "Made in Ontario" so consumers know what products to prioritize.
"We will come back swinging like they've never seen before," said Ford noting that Ontario is the number one trading partner to 19 states and the second to nine others. "Even if we do one in 10 purchases, that say 'Made in Canada' on it, that's close to $17 billion. That's tens of thousands of jobs. That's how we can retaliate."
And not just consumers, Ford encouraged major Canadian retailers to make domestic products a priority too.
"We need you to start buying more made in Ontario, made in Canada goods and requiring the packaging that has Ontario made on it -- to protect our economy," he said. "Folks, we're an economic powerhouse. We can compete against anyone. Go out there and buy Ontario-made products."
Ford said Ontario does $390-billion in trade a year with the U.S. and more than China, Japan, and the United Kingdom combined. In 2018, Canada did $718.5 billion in business with the U.S. Of that, $354.7 billion was in imports, and $363.8 billion in exports. That is a $9 billion surplus for the U.S.