Premiers to meet with Trudeau Wednesday about trade and tariffs, Ford says
CBC
Canada's premiers are meeting virtually Wednesday with the prime minister to discuss the threat of U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he hopes to talk about the country's approach to negotiations.
It comes two weeks after the premiers' last meeting with Justin Trudeau, where they discussed how to respond to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's warning that he will impose a 25 per cent tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico when he takes office next month.
The federal government promised at the last meeting to update the premiers, Ford said.
"They said they were going to come back with a plan to put together a proposal, number one to strengthen our borders and hopefully meet our two per cent NATO commitment," Ford said.
Trudeau has committed to meet NATO members' pledge to spend at least two per cent of GDP on national defence by 2032.
Trudeau recently flew to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to dine with the president-elect and some of his cabinet nominees for an informal discussion on trade and border security.
News of the first ministers' meeting comes the same day as Trump tauntingly took to social media to say it was a pleasure to dine with "Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada," a nod to a joke he made at the dinner that he might make Canada the 51st U.S. state.
Ford said Tuesday he wasn't troubled by Trump's late-night tweet about Trudeau.
"I'm sure not thinking of Justin Trudeau at midnight. So if he's thinking of Justin at midnight, it's probably a good relationship," Ford told reporters.
Ford said what does keep him up at night is the prospect of punitive tariffs with the potential to cripple the economy and push the country into a recession.
"I'm focused on making sure we get this trade deal done and making sure it's fair on both sides of the border. Let's have fair trade," he said.
Trump has said the tariffs would remain in effect until Canada and Mexico stop illegal border crossings and prevent drugs like fentanyl from entering the U.S.
Ontario has produced a slick ad to highlight the mutually beneficial trade connections between the province and the U.S., and recently began rolling it out in a massive campaign that includes Fox News prime time, NFL football games and at Washington, D.C., airports over the holidays.
The ads will also run in Washington on transit shelters and billboards, as well as across target states via digital channels and prime placement for Super Bowl streaming on the Fox Sports app, the premier's office has said.
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Canada's premiers are meeting virtually Wednesday with the prime minister to discuss the threat of U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he hopes to talk about the country's approach to negotiations.
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