Ford, Carney meet for ‘productive discussion’ on how to tackle Trump’s tariffs

Ontario Premier Doug Ford met with incoming prime minister Mark Carney for the first time since he was elected leader of the Liberal Party for a “positive and productive” discussion about how to face U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats.

In a social media post, Ford said the two leaders agreed they need to stand firm and strong in the face of Trump’s threats, including additional retaliatory tariffs in response to the U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum that came into effect at midnight.

“Together, we will get through this more united than ever before. Canada won’t relent until the threat of tariffs is gone for good,” read his post.

Canada introduced nearly $30 billion in retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. on Wednesday in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs.

Federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc confirmed that Canada’s retaliatory tariffs will go into effect as of 12:01 a.m. ET on Thursday and are in addition to 25 per cent tariffs Canada imposed on $30 billion in imports from the U.S. earlier this month.

Ford will be traveling to Washington alongside LeBlanc on Thursday to sit down with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and members of Trump’s economic team.

The meeting was set after Ford agreed to pause his 25 per cent surcharge on electricity to New York, Minnesota and Michigan. In response, Trump backtracked on doubling the tariffs that came into effect Wednesday.

Ford said he will be starting a conversation about the future of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

“Over the coming weeks and months, I’m going to work with Secretary Lutnick, our federal partners and every premier in good faith toward a free trade deal that’s fair for both countries.”

Speaking with reporters outside his office, Ford added, “It’s the federal government that’s leading this, not myself, They are going to lead the negotiations. I’ll have a very loud voice … along with all the other premiers.”

He also said he doesn’t think the retaliatory tariffs introduced Wednesday will not impact the discussions tomorrow.

“We are going to see what’s going to happen … Our message tomorrow is let’s stop this. It’s going to hurt both economies. American people are going to get hurt, Canadians are going to get hurt. Let’s sit down and start moving forward on what you want to see in the CUSMA and what we want to see.”

 Meanwhile, Carney could be sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister as soon as Friday. His transition team is currently working its way through the logistics to get the process done quickly.

Ford also seemingly urged for a federal election to be called as soon as possible on Wednesday.

“Let’s bring certainty to the table. Let the people of Canada decide who they want to lead this country for the next four years and we’ll work with anyone as long as they have the best interests of Ontario,” said Ford.

Carney is widely expected to call an election before Parliament resumes on March 24, but cannot do that until he has been sworn in.