Ford talks to Carney, premiers ahead of trade meeting in Washington on Thursday

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc suggested Wednesday they want to come out of a meeting with a top U.S. official with a "coherent plan" for the tariff road ahead.

The pair, along with Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the United States, are set to meet Thursday in Washington, D.C., with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, who invited Ford on Tuesday amid a major ratcheting up — then down — of the trade war between the two countries.

The Canadian politicians said they hope for a cordial meeting that will take the temperature down, though it will come after Lutnick and U.S. President Donald Trump made comments referring to Ford as "some guy in Ontario" and his "little threat" to put a surcharge on electricity exports to the U.S.

"I said, 'This will be won in one hour,' and (we) announced what we were going to do and they withdrew their little threat," Trump said Wednesday.

The U.S. has imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and aluminum imports effective Wednesday and the Canadian government announced tariffs on U.S. goods worth nearly $30 billion in retaliation.

Trump had threatened Tuesday to set the steel and aluminum tariff at 50 per cent in response to Ontario placing a surcharge on electricity it exports to three U.S. states, but both sides agreed to back off those moves after Lutnick offered the meeting.

Ford said he expects to talk about the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement with Lutnick and hopes to move up a review of the USMCA set for next year.

"I want to make sure everyone understands the expectation is to go down there, build that relationship, talk about the USMCA," he said Wednesday outside his office.

"We aren't walking away with the USMCA, but for years being in business, it's all about building the relationship, understanding what they require, what our needs are, and move forward."

Ford also said he wants an end to the frenetic tariff back-and-forth.

"I want to find out where their bar is set," he said. "Rather than keep moving the goalpost, I want to find out how quickly you want to move forward and see what their requirements are."

LeBlanc, however, said he does not see Thursday's meeting as one about the USMCA. He hopes to talk about the tariffs that are in place now and others that are set to come into effect April 2.

"The conversation tomorrow will be around lowering the temperature and focusing on the process that President Trump set up where Secretary Lutnick has up to April 2 to determine a series of global tariff decisions," he said.

But if one of the three parties to the USMCA wants to begin a review earlier than 2026, Canada is ready, LeBlanc said.