Ontario postpones tariff response announcement as Canada looks for clarity
The Ford government has delayed a plan to unveil its tariff response blueprint from Thursday morning as confusion reigns over how U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs will affect Ontario.
The province had organized a news conference to unveil its support plan at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning, with the ministers of finance, labour and trade all set to join the premier.
After a confusing Rose Garden news conference where President Trump confirmed 25 per cent auto tariffs on all countries but no additional levies for Canada, the premier’s team cancelled the plan.
“Where we stand right now is pretty unclear — I know as much as you know,” Ford told reporters immediately after at Queen’s Park.
He said the lack of additional tariffs for Canada was “positive news” but acknowledged events “change hour by hour, day by day.”
The reciprocal tariffs Trump promised were announced through a large board at a lengthy news conference which listed countries set to be hit with tariffs and how much they would be.
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Neither Mexico nor Canada were named and, as a result, won’t see new tariffs immediately.
“I think that’s good news actually when we aren’t named on that list,” Ford said
The White House laid out on Wednesday that all goods that comply with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement will see zero tariffs, while goods that don’t will be tariffed at 25 per cent.
Energy and potash will be tariffed at 10 per cent. None of those tariff rules for Canada are new and were unveiled previously as a response to Trump’s view of Canada’s role in his country’s fentanyl crisis.
Canada, like the rest of the world, will pay a 25 per cent tariff on cars sold in the United States.
Ford said he hoped the auto tariffs weren’t “written in stone” with the levies set to kick in at midnight.
During the election, Ford promised tens of billions of dollars in relief if tariffs hit Ontario’s economy.
Pledges made by the Progressive Conservative team during February’s election included a $5 billion fund to support major industries and workers and a potential $10 billion pot to allow businesses to defer taxes for six months.
Another $3 billion was promised to help small businesses with payroll as well as $38 million to create “action centres” in areas hit with tariff-related layoffs.
Opposition parties have indicated they would support the government if it introduced tariff relief and support measures — and have asked the province to create a taskforce.
Ford’s team said Wednesday afternoon they were still working out what the tariffs meant — and wanted to communicate with other leaders before moving forward.
Around 10 a.m. Thursday, Ford will chair a meeting of Canada’s premiers where they will discuss the tariffs and their effects.
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