‘We will onshore every single widget we can’: Ford says in response to 50 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is shown speaking with reporters in Saskatoon on Monday.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is vowing to “onshore every single widget we can” after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would double tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Ford made the comment during a media availability in Saskatoon on Monday, where he was scheduled to participate in a first minister’s meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney and his provincial and territorial counterparts.

Trump said last week that tariffs on imported steel and aluminum would be increased from 25 per cent to 50 per cent as of June 4.

That, in turn, could potentially devastate the Canadian steel industry.

“We will onshore every single widget we can so we don’t have to be reliant on the U.S. This goes back to the pandemic days when President Trump, everyone remembers, he cut us off on the N95 masks and we said we would never rely on another country again,” Ford said when asked about the latest salvo in the ongoing trade war with the U.S. “We stood up, the whole sector, we are producing N95 masks right now through 3M in Ontario so we don’t have to rely on the U.S.”

Data from the U.S. Commerce Department has previously shown that Canada shipped $7.6 billion worth of iron and steel over the U.S. border last year.

In a statement released over the weekend, the Canadian Steel Producers Association said that by doubling tariffs the U.S. is “essentially closing” that market to the Canadian steel industry.

It also warned that “steel tariffs at this level will create mass disruption and negative consequences across our highly integrated steel supply chains.”

Speaking with reporters on Monday, Ford said he has already been in contact with industry stakeholders and will “be there to support any steel company” that needs it.

As part of that, he said that he has asked the industry group to provide a list of the opportunities that may exist to purchase more Canadian steel from the domestic market.

“I will give you an example: steel beams. There is no reason we should be getting steal beams from the U.S. when there is more cranes in Toronto than the top 10 cities combined. And my favourite one is the aluminum that gets shipped out down to the U.S., gets a 25 per cent tariff, they convert it, print it and then the cans come back into Canada and there is another 25 per cent (tariff),” Ford said. “We are bringing a company on board to make aluminum cans here so the Molson’s, the Labatt’s, the Coca Cola, the Pepsis and every other person that uses a tin can is going to get it from right here in Canada. It will be great for the whole country and the U.S. is going to lose a billion dollars of business.”