Doug Ford says Canada must plan as if U.S. tariffs are permanent

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Canada must prepare for the possibility that Unite States trade protectionism will last well beyond President Donald Trump’s administration.

“Canada’s relationship with the United States has changed permanently. We can no longer depend on what has been the most durable, prosperous and secure economic partnership the world has ever known,” Ford said in a speech in Toronto on Wednesday.

“We need to be prepared for the long haul. We need to plan as if tariffs are here for good.”

Ford is the latest Canadian official to suggest Canadians need to brace for the prospect that U.S. tariffs will stay in place, regardless of who wins the White House in 2028. Industry Minister Melanie Joly has also warned there is bipartisan support for those duties in the U.S., though there’s debate over which sectors and countries should be targeted.

Trump’s Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and lumber have hurt those Canadian industries, which have long depended on U.S. market access. The U.S. also recently put 50 per cent levies on an array of Canadian goods and slapped import bans on a small range of products, including some alcoholic beverages.

As the midterm elections approach, U.S. representatives in both parties have called on Trump to back off on his trade war with Canada and focus his trade policy on countering China’s rising influence.

But it’s still not guaranteed that Democrats would reverse the tariffs on Canadian goods if they were in power.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, said in an interview with CTV News in August that he can’t guarantee Democrats would lift the tariffs, but said their approach to trade would be “nothing like” Trump’s.

Ford has been a proponent of aggressive retaliation by Canada, advocating “dollar-for-dollar” counter-tariffs — and sometimes sparring with the president in colourful language. In August, after Trump threatened to double tariffs on Canadian autos to 50 per cent, Ford used an expletive on live radio, saying: “He can kiss my a——  as far as I’m concerned.”

—With assistance from Nojoud Al Mallees.