Ford says he had ‘very positive’ meeting with U.S. ambassador to Canada

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra spoke at the Toronto Metro Convention Centre after a meeting with Ont. Premier Doug Ford. Sean Leathong reports.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Canada was “very positive” and he believes the two countries are “getting closer” to a new trade deal.

“I’m confident that we’ll come out on the other end in fairly good shape, and that’s what we need to do. We need to bring the temperature down. We both agree on that,” Ford said following his closed-door conversation with Pete Hoekstra.

The meeting comes a day before President Donald Trump plans to double his tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50 per cent.

Now in its fifth month, Trump’s trade war had seen a 25 per cent tax placed on all Canadian goods that don’t comply with the North American trade pact, in addition to the levies on steel and aluminum.

The Canadian government has responded with a suite of retaliatory tariffs and at a provincial level, Ford’s government has introduced a number of its own measures, including removing U.S. alcohol from LCBO shelves and banning U.S. companies from participating in government procurement.

The premier said that the topic of U.S. products being removed from the LCBO did not come up during Tuesday’s meeting, although the subject was broached when they spoke in May.

“It’s very simple: drop your tariffs, we’ll bring back the booze.”

Ford acknowledged it will be up to Trump to make the “final decision” on the future of the U.S.-Canada trade relationship, and while noting that the ambassador doesn’t speak for the president, he said he feels an agreement may be within reach.

“I just feel that, the conversations are getting very close to, hopefully, a real positive deal happening.”

Ford says U.S. broke its promise

Ford admitted he was “obviously concerned” about the looming 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum. He said the move equates to the U.S. breaking a “promise” that was made after the province agreed to remove a 25 per cent surcharge on the electricity it sends south of the border.

The retaliatory surcharge on the Ontario-made electricity that powers 1.5 million homes in Michigan, Minnesota and New York went into effect on March 10. Trump took notice and threatened to double the tariffs on steel and aluminum in response. Both measures were eventually walked back.

“I’m a man of my word. When we agreed, when I went down there (to Washington, D.C.) with Secretary (of Commerce Howard) Lutnick, they pull off the 25 per cent additional tariffs, we take off the surcharge that we put on the electricity,” the premier recalled.

“That promise was broken. So, you know, I gotta take a different approach.”

The surcharge was in effect for just one day and Ontario collected about $260,000 as a result, according to the Ministry of Energy.

Ford’s comments come as Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc meets with Lutnick in Washington. The premier said he expects a call from LeBlanc Tuesday night for an update on that conversation.

Hoekstra calls meeting with Ford ‘great,’ says Canada shares U.S. priorities

Hoekstra echoed Ford’s optimistic tone when he spoke at the Empire Club of Canada following Tuesday’s meeting.

The former ambassador to the Netherlands and U.S. Representative said he believes Trump’s priorities are in line with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s, specifically on beefing up national security and unlocking prosperity.

“I have no doubt that they (Trump’s administration) will bring prosperity to America. They will negotiate agreements … (that are) a win-win,” he said. “They will negotiate recognizing the best agreements are where we win, and we make America great again, but we’re also working with folks that will benefit by signing and negotiating with us moving forward.”

Hoekstra, who was tapped for the role by Trump in November, called the relationship between Canada and the U.S. “mutually beneficial,” while downplaying the “tension” that has arisen from what he described as Trump’s “transformative politics.”

“We have so many things we can work together on…the list of things that we can work on is much bigger and much longer and much more important than the things that we’re debating right now.”

He bookended his comments by noting that he discussed the future of the U.S.-Canada relationship with Ford, and described the face-to-face as “great.”

“I am optimistic about where this relationship is. I’m more optimistic about where I believe this relationship is going.”