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As markets are brac in Canada is also bracing for higher tariffs and immediate challenge for Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, who is set to take over as the country's prime minister after winning the race to succeed Justin Trudeau. During his victory speech yesterday, Carney had this sharp message for President Trump on trade.
The Canadian government has rightly retaliated and is rightly retaliating with our own tariffs that will have maximum impact in the United States and minimum impact here in Canada. And my government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect.
And we did see further retaliation today with Ontario Premier Doug Ford ordering a twenty five percent surcharge on electricity exports to three US states, and Premiere Ford is joining us now for more here on Bloomberg TV and Radio. Premier Ford, thank you for your time. You have suggested that this surcharge could be hiked, or potentially that electricity exports to the US could be cut off entirely if
there is escalation from this administration. What escalation would precipitate that response from you.
Well, first of all, thanks so much for having me on Kiley and Joe. I appreciate the opportunity. I start off with every interview saying we love Americans, we love the US, Canadians love Americans. I do spent twenty years of my life in Chicago and New Jersey and saying this. This is one person. It's not the American people. It's not even Republicans that I've talked to governors or senators
or congress women and men. As one person. That's President Trump has created this chaos, not just here in Canada and US and Mexico, but around the world right now. You know, he ran on a mandate to lower inflation, create more jobs, and it's done the total opposite. Inflation's going up. Assembly plants will close. If he continues on with these tariffs in the auto sector, people will lose their jobs, Manufacturing will go down, and people will have
less money in their pockets. I believe in the name can Fortress. Let's create American Canadian Fortress and have the strongest, wealthiest, most prosperous two countries in the entire world. That's what I believe in.
Have you talked about your own retaliation with incoming Prime Minister Karney. Are you both on the same page on this.
I just got off the phone with him a minute ago, and Prime Minister Elect Carney extremely break the individual when it comes to finances and other areas of business. I'm going to be sitting down with them this week and having a conversation. But he's right in line with what I believe in across the country. Patriotsm is running wild like I've never seen before. And again it's not against the American people. It's one person I called the self
inflicted potential recession. There's one person that will put us in a recession, and that's President Trump.
So you've spoken with the incoming Prime Minister. Have you had a chance to speak with the President or anyone in this administration since putting into place this surcharge today?
No, I haven't. I spoke to Secretary Lutnik, another great individual when it comes to finances, and I agree or disagree with President Trump, he's an extremely bright business person. If they can't see this, when the market speaks, I always say, when the market speaks, you have to listen. The market is speaking. CEOs are speaking people are speaking out. Why is he doing this to his largest customer in
the world, Canada. No one buys more products off the US than Canada does, including autos four hundred percent more than Mexico, two hundred percent more than anywhere in the world. And we buy as many cars as we ship down there, and the one ship down there are fifty percent American made parts. You can't I always say that you can't unscramble an egg that's been around since the nineteen sixties, the auto pack. We have to make a larger almland. That's what we need to do.
Well, your export tariffing electricity here, you've called for possibly export tariffing crude. I wonder what is your message to Premier Smith of Alberta, who's staunchly opposed to that idea.
Well, that's strictly up the Premier Smith. I have no jurisdiction in Alberta. That will be up to Premier Smith. But Americans have to remember President Trump said, I should say President Trump should remember that Alberta ship's four point three million barrels a day down to the US. And there's nothing more than I'd want to do is send more energy, more critical minerals rather than raised tariffs. I don't believe in protectionism. With your two closest friends and
allies in the entire world. As we're going back and forth at each other, China's ramping up every single day in the critical minerals, and they've cut the US off for critical minerals for their military. We have it. Ontario is more critical minerals than anywhere in the world. And who do I want to give it to. I want to give it to our closest friends and allies, the US.
Well, when we're considering what commodities Ontario does have, you've threatened to cut off the supply of nickel from mines in Ontario. Is that a real threat? And again, what would make you act on that? What action from the Trump administration would see that response?
Well, fifty percent of the high grade nickel, and I emphasize high grade nickel in the US their military and aerospace and manufacturing comes from Ontario. Again, Kaylee, I want to send more nickel, more high grade nickel, more lithium, more cobalt. We have thirty three of the most critical minerals that the whole world wants. I don't want to give them to anyone. I want to give them to our closest friend and allies. That's what I want to do. I want to create that damncan fortress.
This is interesting, and I wonder, Premiere, what your thoughts are about President Trump's motivations. What's his obsession? If I can use that word with Canada. Clearly we've established that much more fentanyl, by many thousands of pounds a years going through Mexico. Have you heard that message from this White House? What it is that Canada could do to bring these tariffs down?
Well, your guess is as good as mine, Joe, because when the President said tighten up the border, we acted immediately to tighten up the border. I had the DEA in my office at the US Border Patrol and Canadian Border Patrol, federal and state police, and we're doing that. We put over ten thousand personnel along our border. But it works both ways. You know, I hate drugs. I can't stand one graham of fentanyl coming in, But where's
the precursors coming from? From China? They gave me a report, our provincial police equal to our state police, that hundreds of kilos of cocaine are coming from the southern border that we're caught in the last couple of weeks, illegal guns, illegals, opioids, fentanyl, everything. We have a shared border, and I know our Canadian and American border patrol folks work together, our police work together.
So we're going to do everything we can to stop the flow of drugs and illegals and guns coming back and forth across the border. But it has dropped drastically here in Canada.
Well, President Trump contends, it's not just an issue with what's flowing over the border. This is also about making sure trade between the US and Canada is more fair. Hence the threat of reciprocal tariffs against things like lumber and dairy premiers. Should Canada consider lowering rates charge there so that it doesn't require a reciprocal tariff?
Well, Kaylee, I'll tell you the facts. You take the oil off the balance sheet because the US needs it. The US has a fifty six billion dollars surplus on manufacturing and services with Canada, so they have a surplus of fifty six billion. I have no problem with that. That's fine. Let's grow the pie, as I say, grow the ame one, make it larger. As you know, as our foes be it China is declaring an economic war.
They've been doing that, by the way, quietly for the last ten years, while everyone's been sleeping, and they're sitting back laughing at the two greatest allies, you know, duking it up, back and forth.
Up.
Let's unite. We're stronger together united. We stand, divided, we fall. We need to stand united together.
Thanks for joining us, Dougford Ontario's premiere. Great to have you with us on Balance of Power. We should also note that Mark Harney is the former chair of Bloomberg's Board of directors.