Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Canada should “take a different approach” and “hit back” against US tariffs if talks fail, pointing to new US duties of 10% on timber and lumber and 25% on imported kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and upholstered furniture.
He spoke to reporters at Queen’s Park ahead of a planned Oval Office meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Donald Trump.
Ford argued that Canada’s removal of many retaliatory tariffs in August coincided with the US continuing to impose new barriers, saying, “We can’t just keep rolling over to President Trump.”
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“I would take a different approach. Try to get a deal if you can but we have to hit them back hard and not stop hitting them back hard because we can never take a back seat to anyone, especially President Trump,” Ford said.
Framing the trade fight’s domestic impact, Ford linked a negotiated resolution to inflation and growth.
“If you want to see inflation stop you make a deal with Canada. If you want to see the economy grow you make a deal with Canada. That is what we need to do because it will hurt both countries if we don’t,” he argued.
He compared Canada’s current stance to “a kid going to the schoolyard and getting punched in the face every day,” concluding “It is time to hit back if we don’t get a deal.”
On potential tools, Ford revisited an earlier threat to cut off electricity exports to three US states, an approach he said was suspended in March after a conversation with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Ontario currently ships surplus energy to New York, Minnesota, and Michigan. Ford suggested manufacturers could shift production to off-peak hours to access lower-cost electricity that Ontario now sells south of the border.
Ford also called for tighter coordination with Ottawa as negotiations proceed, urging Carney to brief provincial leaders.
“Maybe Prime Minister Carney knows something I don’t know and if that is the case he should sit down with the premiers and explain that. That is what he needs to do,” he cleared.
Late September, Carney rolled back countertariffs on US goods more broadly than he announced, removing levies on all US imports except steel, aluminum, and automobiles at the end of August, shrinking a retaliatory regime that earlier covered nearly $100 billion of products.
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