Article content
Insisting an all-out trade war with the United States is “coming” when Donald Trump is sworn in as president on Jan. 20, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he’s prepared to cut off electricity exports to three U.S. states as a retaliatory measure.
Article content
“We’ll use every tool in our toolbox, including cutting them off energy that we’re sending down there,” Ford told reporters Wednesday. “We need to be ready to fight. This fight is coming.”
Ford made the comments after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada’s premiers spoke on the phone Wednesday about the president-elect’s trade threat. Trump has warned he’ll impose 25% tariffs on Canadian goods coming into the United States unless Canada deals with the drugs and people illegally crossing the border.
Canada has a $900-billion-a-year trade relationship with the United States. Ontario alone has a $500-billion annual trade agreement with America.
“We will go to the full extent depending on how far this goes,” Ford said, adding that his government and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland are putting together a “retaliatory” tariff list.
“We will go to the extent of cutting off their energy, going down to Michigan, going down to New York State and over to Wisconsin. I don’t want this to happen, but my number one job is to protect Ontarians and Canadians as a whole.”
Article content
And he warned that what Trump has been saying about Canada should not be taken lightly.
“Folks, this is coming, it’s not ‘if,’ it is — it’s coming. It’s coming Jan. 20 or 21, and we need to be prepared,” said Ford. “We need to stand as a country. We need to stand united as Canadians and work hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder with our colleagues across the country and, and we’re ready to do it.”
Things are really starting to heat up in this battle. It’s no laughing matter. Canada’s way of life is at stake.
In response to Trump calling Justin Trudeau “governor” and teasing that Canada should become a state of the U.S., the prime minister said Tuesday that Americans rejected their chance to elect a woman for president twice.
Recommended video
In response, billionaire Elon Musk, now a Trump advisor, called Trudeau an “insufferable tool.”
Needless to say, this is a very challenging situation for Canada’s economy. Ford said Trudeau’s comments about the U.S. election were not helpful and were brought up during the prime minister’s meeting with the premiers.
But the main message coming out of the meeting is Canada needs to prepare for a trade war.
“We can’t sit back and roll over,” said Ford. “We just can’t as a country, we never have.”
Share this article in your social network