The Blubber

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he believes Canada would be willing to lift its tariffs on American goods if President Donald Trump ends his trade war.

Ford made the remarks during an interview with CNBC’s Ross Sorkin on Wednesday morning, after Sorkin brought up Canada’s $60 billion in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports.

As chair of Canada’s Council of the Federation, Ford has previously participated in bilateral talks with U.S. officials. However, decisions regarding tariffs ultimately fall under the authority of the federal government.

“We’d be willing to take those off tomorrow, if he took all the tariffs off. We are not the problem,” Ford said.

The U.S. introduced a 25% global tariff on steel and aluminum imports last month. Prior to that, Trump had imposed a blanket 25% tariff on all goods from Canada and Mexico. He later exempted products that meet North American trade deal criteria, but that exemption is set to expire on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has yet to lay out the federal government’s full response to Trump’s upcoming "reciprocal" tariffs, which are expected to be announced at 4 p.m. Ottawa has previously indicated it is prepared to implement tariffs on up to $155 billion worth of American goods.

Ontario has already enacted its own retaliatory measures, including removing American-made alcohol from LCBO shelves, banning U.S. firms from participating in provincial government contracts, and briefly imposing a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to the U.S., which was later reversed.

In addition to the expected reciprocal tariffs, Trump has also enacted a 25% duty on all imported automobiles, set to take effect Thursday. However, following a conversation with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick last week, Ford said vehicles manufactured in Ontario using at least 50% U.S.-made parts would be exempt from the tax.

Speaking later in the day with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Ford said Canadians are prepared to make sacrifices in the face of the ongoing trade dispute—but suggested Americans have yet to fully feel the consequences.

“I have a tremendous amount of friends in the U.S., and they are kind of going on their merry way until they get hit—and they are going to get hit hard based on President Trump continuing to tariff,” Ford said.