Ontario Urges Residents to Buy Local to Counter U.S. ‘Attack’
Ontario Urges Residents to Buy Local in Retaliation Against U.S.
(Bloomberg) -- Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged consumers to shift purchases away from U.S. goods to retaliate against President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian aluminum.
Trump said Thursday he will remove Canada’s exemption from 10% tariffs, effective Aug. 16, in response to concerns by American aluminum producers about a surge of Canadian metal. Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s deputy prime minister, said Ottawa will respond by targeting C$3.6 billion ($2.7 billion) in retaliatory tariffs. The government released a list of more than 60 U.S. products under consideration for tariffs.
Ford, who leads Canada’s largest province with nearly 15 million people, used a Friday morning news conference to suggest that residents buy Canadian-made products and avoid U.S. goods.
“We’re their No. 1 trading partner in the world,” Ford told reporters in Toronto. “In times like this, who tries to go after your closest ally, your closest trading partner, your No. 1 customer in the entire world? Who would do this?”
“We need you to start buying more made in Ontario, made in Canada goods and requiring the packaging that has ‘Ontario Made’ until we give the consumers a choice, to protect our economy.”
Ontario did C$397 billion ($296 billion) in two-way trade in goods with the U.S. in 2019, more than the U.S did with Japan. The province brings in more from the U.S. than from any other jurisdiction -- about C$195 billion in goods last year, or 54% of its imports, according to provincial government data.
“We’re up against a real battle right now -- it’s us versus them. And I’ve always said, I love the American people. But right now for the president to come and attack us during these times through a pandemic, when we need everyone’s support, is totally unacceptable,” Ford said.
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