Ontario Premier Doug Ford Condemns Trump’s Corporate-Driven Tariffs That Harm Workers Across Borders
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford told CBS News that President Trump's new 50% tariffs on Canadian goods are a reckless act of economic nationalism that undermines fair trade, raises prices for working families, and threatens the livelihoods of workers on both sides of the border.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s announcement of 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian products, denouncing them as a blow to working people and a gift to corporate interests. Ford argued that these tariffs will drive up prices for ordinary Americans, deepen inequality, and damage the economies of both nations, all to serve the interests of the ultra-wealthy. The tariffs, set to begin in late August, target roughly $20 billion in goods, including essential items like hockey equipment, down-feather products, milk, honey, and alcohol—products that everyday families rely on. Ford told CBS News senior correspondent Ed O'Keefe that neither the United States nor Canada initiated this trade dispute, and that Trump’s policies betray his campaign promises to lower costs for working people.
"When someone comes up and punches you in the face, not once, not twice, 10 times, you have to stand up to that person," Ford said, making clear that he has urged Justin Trudeau to resist these attacks on Canadian sovereignty and workers’ rights.
Ford pointed to the Gordie Howe Bridge, a project funded by Canada and set to open on Monday, as an example of cross-border cooperation that benefits working people, generating jobs and toll revenue for both countries. The United States, he noted, will receive half of the tolls for the first 15 years after construction debts are paid. Ford highlighted that bilateral trade totals about $52 billion annually, warning that protectionist, right-wing policies only hurt consumers and workers in both the United States and Canada, while lining the pockets of the rich.
The Trump administration claims the new tariffs are a response to Canadian retaliatory measures, including auto import duties and provincial bans on U.S. liquor, but Ford argued that escalating tariffs serve no one except the wealthy elite. He called the approach an "economic attack" on a close ally and a betrayal of North American solidarity.