Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he hopes Canada and the U.S. meet back at the negotiating table soon as the ongoing trade war is “hurting” both countries.
The premier made the comment to reporters on his way to the meeting with First Nation leaders and the country’s First Ministers in Ottawa on Monday morning. The meeting is being described as historic because it has been 20 years since a meeting of this kind has been held between two camps.
“I really hope so because it’s just hurting both countries. It doesn’t make sense,” Ford told reporters on Monday morning. “I’ve always said on American news that a tariff on Canada is nothing more than a tax on the American people, and I think President Trump’s feeling it.”
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Diplomacy between the two countries has wavered since Ottawa walked away from formal trade talks in late August after some last-minute demands from the U.S. Washington imposed tariffs on billions of dollars in Canadian goods in response, and Ottawa swiftly followed suit.
It was a move Ford openly supported, saying the Trump administration presented an “absolutely terrible deal that would have destroyed our economy from top to bottom.”
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he anticipates the trade war with Canada will end “pretty soon.”
“Canada has been ripping off the United States for years, OK? For years. And I had to do it. We’ll have that settled pretty soon. They’re willing to give us anything at this moment,” Trump said at a rally in Port Huron, Mich.
The midterm elections in the U.S. are less than two weeks away. Last Friday, Trump announced he will lift some of the 50 per cent tariffs imposed on Canadian goods at the end of the month, while also adding levies to dozens of new products in the same breath.
Ford could not definitively say if any trade deal would be reached prior to the midterms, which are being held on Nov. 3.
“I’m not too sure, that’s going to be up to the Prime Minister and his team. I’m there to support,” he said.
With files from The Canadian Press
