'It's insulting:' Ontario premier slams Trump on Canadian tariff threat
CTV
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is reacting to a threat from incoming U.S. president-elect Donald Trump to impose tariffs on imports from Canada, calling the proposal ‘insulting’ and emphasizing the need for leaders to work together on a response.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is reacting to a threat from incoming U.S. president-elect Donald Trump to impose tariffs on imports from Canada, calling the proposal ‘insulting’ and emphasizing the need for leaders to work together on a response.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, said Monday he would impose a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico until they clamped down on drugs, particularly fentanyl, and migrants crossing the border, in a move that would appear to violate the U.S.-Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) on free trade. Trump separately outlined "an additional 10 per cent tariff, above any additional tariffs" on imports from China.
Ford described Trump's proposal as like "being punched in the face by a family member" and as unfair to lump in Canada with Mexico on border and drug issues.
"I think we should take it very seriously," he said on Newstalk 580 CFRA's The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll on Tuesday.
"I find it insulting to the Canadian people, it's insulting to the 909,000 Americans that live here and the billions in trade that we do every single year," he said.
Ford said Canada "needs to tighten up our border and vice versa" while pointing to illegal immigration and drugs coming into Canada from the U.S.
"We know there's a problem and vice versa. We know there's illegals coming in from the U.S., we know there's drugs coming in from the U.S. and we know there's firearms used in heinous crimes coming in from the U.S.," Ford said.
