Ontario's Ford on Tariff Response: Maximize Pain for Americans

Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters that Canada plans to push back with $65 billion in tariffs that will minimize pain for Canadians and maximize pain for Americans, The Hill reported.

"I feel terrible for the Americans, but it's one person — it's President [Donald] Trump — that's creating this chaos," Ford said. "We have two options here: Either we roll over as a country and he runs us over 15 times and gets what he wants, or we feel a little bit of pain and we fight like we've never fought before."

Trump announced Wednesday he was placing a 25% tariff on auto imports — a move the White House claims would foster domestic manufacturing but could also put a financial squeeze on automakers that depend on global supply chains

The Ontario premier, a conservative, said he supports Prime Minister Mark Carney's decision to impose retaliatory tariffs.

"We agree Canada needs to stand firm, strong and united," Ford posted on X. "I fully support the federal government preparing retaliatory tariffs to show that we’ll never back down."

Ford previously imposed a tax on energy imports to Michigan, Minnesota, and New York but lifted the tax after he met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

On Friday, Trump said he had "an extremely productive call" with Carney.

"[W]e agree on many things and will be meeting immediately after Canada's upcoming election to work on elements of politics, business and all other factors that will end up being great for both the United States of America and Canada," Trump posted on Truth Social.

Carney declared Thursday that his country's long-standing economic and security relationship with the United States has ended, vowing a forceful response to Trump's decision to impose sweeping new tariffs on foreign car imports, including those from Canada, The Hill reported.

"The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over," Carney said at a news conference.