Ontario Premier Doug Ford has expressed strong opposition to President Donald Trump’s decision to escalate tariffs on foreign-made vehicles, a move that is set to impact Canada significantly.
President Trump announced on Wednesday that he would impose a 25% tariff on imported passenger vehicles, including sedans, SUVs, crossovers, minivans, and light trucks, as well as key automobile parts such as engines, transmissions, and electrical components.
President Trump is bringing back MADE IN AMERICA:
25% tariff on automobiles made outside of the U.S. $100B projected in new revenue thanks to auto tariffs Strengthen America's manufacturing industry pic.twitter.com/ArU44jdTn3 — The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 26, 2025
Additionally, Trump has made provisions to expand these tariffs to cover other automobile parts if necessary.
This action is part of a broader executive order that will take effect on April 2, imposing reciprocal tariffs on any country that charges the United States taxes or tariffs on imported goods.
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Trump has referred to April 2 as “Liberation Day,” highlighting the significance of this move for the future of U.S. trade policy.
Ford, the leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party, responded swiftly to Trump’s tariff increase during a press conference in Toronto.
In remarks that have stirred controversy, Ford vowed to retaliate against the United States in a manner that would cause significant hardship for American citizens.
“I can assure you one thing,” Ford told reporters. “We’re gonna make sure that we inflict as much pain as possible on the American people.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he’s going to “inflict as much pain as possible” on the American people in response to the latest tariffs.
Trump is going to absolutely destroy this slob if he keeps it up. pic.twitter.com/VGqzqdypt2 — johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) March 27, 2025
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Ford’s comments have drawn sharp criticism, with many questioning the appropriateness of such a response.
He also stated that he had spoken to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, suggesting that Canada’s response should target American-made cars in particular.
“We buy as many cars off the U.S. as we sell down there,” Ford explained, indicating that he believes retaliatory measures could focus on the automobile sector.
Ford’s remarks are not the first time he has made aggressive statements in response to U.S. policies. Earlier this month Ford threatened to cut off electricity to over 1 million Americans living in New York, Michigan, and Minnesota.
“If he wants to destroy our economy and our families, I will shut down the electricity going down to the U.S.,” Ford boasted. “And I’m telling you, we will do it.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that he is ready to enter a "trade war" with the United States, saying that Americans will "feel the pain like they've never felt before." pic.twitter.com/ofk3r0A3k1
— Trending Politics (@tpbreaking) March 3, 2025
However, Ford quickly backed down from this threat after President Trump warned of potential retaliation against Canada.
Ford's initial bravado was replaced by a more measured response, underscoring the delicate balance of power between the two countries in matters of trade and diplomacy.
Ford’s combative statements regarding the new tariffs reflect growing tensions between Canada and the United States over trade practices.
Trump’s tariff adjustments are designed to incentivize American businesses to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. and reduce reliance on foreign-made products.
For Canada, which has significant trade relations with the U.S., these tariffs are likely to have a profound economic impact, particularly in the automotive industry.
The growing trade dispute between Canada and the U.S. raises concerns about the broader consequences for both countries' economies.
While Ford’s comments suggest a willingness to challenge U.S. policies, the long-term impact of such tensions remains uncertain.
It is clear that the trade relationship between the two nations will continue to evolve as both sides navigate these complex issues.
As Ford's comments have already sparked debate, it remains to be seen how Canada will officially respond to Trump’s tariff policies when they take effect in April.
The situation highlights the ongoing friction between the two countries and the potential ramifications for industries on both sides of the border.
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How is Trump rescuing the Liberal party (Canada’s equivalent to the Democrats) from the verge of extinction with this unnecessary attack on our ally Canada going to benefit the USA? Particularly if it results in the new Canadian leader for the next six years being a globalist IMF bankster global warming Prime Minister, Mark Carney?
First, Ford could really hurt SPECIFIC American people in the Blue Wall states that elected Trump AND as well, get their electricity (and some of them, their oil) from Canada. Wouldn’t win a trade war, but Trump would have to deal with the voters in those states feeling the pain from his tariffs when they vote for House members in 2026.
Ford’s problem when saying he will cut off electricity we import from Canada instead of building coal fired power plants, nuclear, and damming our rivers is that he is a provincial leader – like a state governor.
He has no more legal authority to do that to international trade than a state governor here does. Ford knows that. But anybody who has watched his political career realizes that he’s somewhat of a less strident version of Trump when it comes to populist rhetoric.
The real, major issue here is that Trump’s inexplicable (other than for populist cheering) attacks on Canada have rescued the Leninist Liberals and their Marxist NDP coalition government that was on the verge of being wiped out to the point of extinction in the Canadian election that was just weeks away.
Trump’s attacks have completely reversed that – one way to unify a politically divided country is to threaten to annex it, harm all economically, etc.
Now the Liberals have a cause to run on, one that has overwhelmed the issue of the upcoming election being about the utter failure and financial mismanagement of the coalition minority government. Now the cause is who best to defend Canada in the face of Trump’s threats of annexation and deciding to ruin that country that fought beside us in our wars in Afghanistan and the Gulf War.
Poilviere, a politician who is more small government, fiscally and socially conservative than Trump ever has been, has a history of supporting the Trump/GOP platform. And now that support for Trump is killing Polviere in the polls, while the Liberals have risen from the ashes, just as Trump did.
The Liberals are running a globalist socialist bankster, Mark Carney, against the Conservatives, portraying him as the anti-Trump who is the best choice to defend Canada against Trump annexation and economic attacks. While Poilviere’s history of supporting Trump has them claiming he would be a pushover for Trump.
So now the Liberals have gone from the verge of extinction to being well over ten points ahead in multiple polls of voters, with the election just weeks away.
Brevity is the soul of wit. NPRrrr couldn’t write a piece this protracted.
I sometimes make the mistake of assuming readers that are capable of reading an article like this from beginning to end have adult attention spans longer than 15 seconds, and might be interested in where this could be leading to.
In some cases, it turns out that those with low information voter attention spans think the brevity of their idea of a rebuttal is the soul of intellect.
Pretty simple, stop charging us and the tariffs won’t happen. No need for the threats. Just be fair with the US.
Pretty simple; what universe do we now live in where we have NOT also had tariffs on Canada? Seems a fair question, because the back and forth tariff softwood lumber wars between mills in the NW states like here in Montana and the neighboring provinces of BC and AB have been going on since the 1970’s.
Bonus question for populist deep thinkers: These “trade imbalances” are being calculated by the Trump administration by comparing how much Canadians buy from us, versus how much we buy from Canada?
We expect a country with a population of 34 million to buy the same amount of goods from us that our 340 million population buys from Canada? One tenth the population – but they’re supposed to purchase the same dollar value as we do?
Now, in the vein of “just be fair with the US”, how is that expectation fair to Canada?
Extra bonus question: why is Trump also placing these punitive tariffs on nations with which we have a TRADE SURPLUS? Shouldn’t we be sending them refund checks? Maybe put countervailing tariffs collected here in the USA on our goods we export to them?
Speaking of Trump’s favorite threats: it’s been over eight weeks since Trump issued his threat that if the Hamas terrorists didn’t release all their hostages, including the remaining Americans, by the coming weekend, he promised that all hell would break loose.
Well… Hamas still has those hostages, 8+ weekends later: does anybody have an appointment for which of the coming weeks we can expect Trump to order hell to actually break out?
You don’t get the best from your children, your dog, your sports team, or your politicians by blindly cheering everything they do without criticism because in general they’re doing a great job.
A lot of people never learn that fact of life.