Ontario premier lashes out at US president for tariffs, trade war

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Ontario (AA) – Ontario Premier Doug Ford lashed out at US President Donald Trump and accused him Tuesday of “cozying up to Putin” while initiating a trade war with America’s best friend and neighbor, Canada.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ford said at a news conference, referring to Trump’s snuggling up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It came hours after Trump slapped tariffs of 25% on most Canadian goods imported into the US.

The tariffs will devastate the Canadian economy, particularly in Ontario, the manufacturing heartland. But Ford said the resolve of Canadians is strong and will survive the trade war. He noted Americans will suffer, too.

In an interview with CNN earlier, Ford again fired verbal bullets at Trump and reiterated that Americans will suffer.

“It is your president doing this … this is the wrong thing to do,” said Ford. “He is doing this on the backs of the American people.”

Ontario’s first salvo of the trade war included banning American alcohol from all outlets and cutting off US firms from bidding on procurement contracts. Ford said he was tearing up a CAN$100 million ($69.6 million) contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink to bring internet service to rural areas.

“They only have Trump to blame,” said Ford. “One man, chaos.”

Perhaps Ford’s “Trump” card is in energy. The province supplies electricity to the states of New York, Minnesota and Michigan -- a total of 1.5 million homes and businesses.

But Ford said he was playing a wait-and-see game on electricity, but he issued a warning as to what could happen if the trade war persists.

“We will not hesitate to shut off their power as well,” said Ford. “We also need to be ready to dig in for a long fight. Canada and Ontario did not start this fight, but we are ready to win.”