Ontario Premier Doug Ford says Canada and the United States should work together to counter China, rather than engage in a damaging trade war — and has a message for Mexico to join them.
Speaking to CNN Monday night, Ford said cutting off energy exports to the U.S. remained “a tool that we have in our toolbox” to retaliate if U.S. president-elect Donald Trump follows through on his threat to slap 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian exports when he takes office next month.
However, Ford said “that’s the last thing I want to do,” adding he would prefer to boost U.S. trade and counter Chinese incursions into the North American market, which he says is largely being done through Mexico.
“I just feel we aren’t the enemy,” he told CNN. “The big problem, in my opinion, is China: cheap Chinese products going through Mexico. They’re slapping a ‘made-in-Mexico’ sticker on (products) and shipping them up through the U.S. and Canada and costing American and Canadian jobs.
“Mexico has to make a decision: you’re either with Beijing or you’re with Washington. I’ll tell you what Canadians are with, they’re with Washington.”
Ford has accused Mexico of acting as a “back door” for Chinese imports, particularly vehicles and auto parts, bypassing rules-of-origin restrictions in the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) that replaced NAFTA in 2020.
Trump himself has highlighted the issue and said he will address it when the updated free trade pact comes up for review in 2026.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said Ottawa shares concerns about Chinese investments in Mexico, which have also been raised by U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration. Last month, Trudeau suggested there could be “other options” for Mexico’s trade relationships with Canada and the U.S. if Mexico doesn’t address the issue, after growing calls from some premiers — led by Ford — to cut Mexico out of CUSMA entirely.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has previously stated the importance of maintaining CUSMA, but told Chinese President Xi Jinping at last month’s G20 summit that there was “room for a relationship with China.” Chinese automakers like BYD are eying manufacturing plants in Mexico that Trump has vowed to tariff heavily.
Ford’s appearance on CNN was his latest act of outreach to U.S. media to make the case that Trump’s threatened tariffs would hurt consumers on both sides of the border. The Ontario premier has appeared on Fox News and CNBC in recent weeks to appeal directly to Americans.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has also appeared on Fox News and met in person with governors in Las Vegas this month, highlighting the impact on gas prices if tariffs are placed on Canadian energy exports.
“We (Canada) ship down more than 4.3 million barrels (of oil) every single day,” Ford told CNN on Monday. “If there was a tariff on that, that would increase gas by a dollar a gallon. That wouldn’t go over very well.”
Premiers are set to visit Washington, D.C., in February — after Trump is inaugurated — to meet with lawmakers and administration officials.
“It’s our job (as premiers) to go down and inform Americans … that we are their number one trading partner, number one ally in the entire world,” Ford said. “Those supply chains are so integrated, we’re so much stronger together.
“The only people that win (in a Canada-U.S. trade war) is China. Americans lose, Canadians lose.”
Asked by CNN about Trump’s repeated taunts of Canada and Trudeau — who he has called “governor” of America’s “51st state” — Ford said the incoming president “has a sense of humour,” but that he’s more focused on preventing damage to the trade relationship.
He said he agreed with Trump’s call for Canada to strengthen its borders and increase its defence spending in line with its NATO commitments, and that meeting those demands could help avoid tariffs.
“This is pretty simple,” Ford said.
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