TORONTO (AP) — The premier of Canada's most populous province said Tuesday President-elect Donald Trump's plan to impose sweeping 25% tariffs on all Canadian products would be a "disaster" that would hurt U.S. stock markets.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford also said in an interview with The Associated Press that he's “extremely worried” about Trump's plan to launch a mass deportation of millions of undocumented people. Ford said he has a plan to send hundreds of police officers to the border if Trump's program leads to migrants heading north.
Ford said tariffs won't work considering how integrated the U.S. and Canadian economies are. He noted that in the auto sector alone parts can go back and forth across the Canada-U.S. border several times before being fully assembled in Ontario or Michigan.
“It is so integrated. I don't even know how you separate that in the supply chain. It would be a disaster,” Ford told the AP. “It will affect the market. The market will drop and we have every CEO saying that is not the way to go."
Ford said the market consequences will get Trump's attention. “I know he has many scorecards, but one is the stock market,” he said.
Trump responded early Wednesday by trolling Canada again.
“No one can answer why we subsidize Canada to the tune of over $100,000,000 a year? Makes no sense!," Trump posted on Truth Social. ”Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State. They would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea. 51st State!!!”
Trump often brought up the 51st state line to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during Trump’s first term in office and has gone public with it in recent weeks.
Canada’s ambassador to Washington, Kirsten Hillman, has said the U.S. had a $75 billion trade deficit with Canada last year. But she noted a third of what Canada sells into the U.S. are energy exports and prices have been high.
About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports and 85% of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada.
Hillman said trade balances are something that Trump focuses on so it’s important to put it into context.
“We are one-tenth the size of the United States so a balanced trade deal would mean per capita we are buying 10 times more from the U.S. than they are buying from us. If that’s his metric we will certainly engage on that," Hillman told The AP.
Ford said he's also “extremely concerned” about Trump's plans to create “the largest mass deportation program in history."
“We do have a plan ready," Ford said. "We have hundreds of provincial police officers that are ready within hours, if not immediately, to hit the borders.”
Ford said local police, provincial police and the federal government will all be working together. “We’ll make sure that we tighten up that border like we’ve never seen before," he said.
Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods if Canada and Mexico do not stem the flow of migrants and fentanyl from entering the U.S. border — even though far fewer of each crosses into the U.S. from Canada than from Mexico.
Ford made the comments shortly after Canada's federal government announced more details about a billion-dollar border plan that's designed to avert the tariffs. Canada's national police plans to create a new aerial intelligence task force to provide round-the-clock surveillance of Canada’s border using helicopters, drones and surveillance towers.
Canada will also propose to the United States the creation of a North American “joint strike force” to target organized crime groups that work across borders.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he has discussed parts of the plan with American officials and that he is optimistic about its reception.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” said LeBlanc, who tried to play down the notion Canada was simply bowing to American demands.
Ford reiterated he would restrict electricity exports to Michigan, New York and Minnesota if the sweeping tariffs are imposed.
“I want to sell them more energy, more critical minerals, but I’m going to always keep every tool in our tool box available” Ford said. “We have the energy. They need the energy.”
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for.
Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian dollars ($2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states.
“We want to sit down and explain to Trump and inform him that we aren’t the enemy," Ford said. “And as for Mexico I want to do a bilateral trade deal directly with the U.S.”
Flows of migrants and seizures of drugs at the two countries’ border are vastly different. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border during the last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.
Most of the fentanyl reaching the U.S. — where it causes about 70,000 overdose deaths annually — is made by Mexican drug cartels using precursor chemicals smuggled from Asia.
On immigration, the U.S. Border Patrol reported 1.53 million encounters with migrants at the southwest border with Mexico between October 2023 and September 2024. That compares to 23,721 encounters at the Canadian border during that time.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford attends a news conference at Queen's Park Legislature in Toronto on Thursday December 12, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
