Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on X that he and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick have been in discussions over the past 24 hours regarding ongoing tariff disputes between the U.S. and Canada. A joint statement revealed that Lutnick has agreed to meet with Ford in Washington, D.C., alongside a U.S. trade representative, to discuss renewing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) before new tariffs on Canada are set to take effect on April 2.
The USMCA was intended as an updated version of NAFTA, negotiated and signed by President Donald Trump in 2020. Trump has previously criticized past trade deals, stating during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron that the U.S. had been taken advantage of in manufacturing agreements. He emphasized the need for reciprocity and confirmed that tariffs would proceed as planned.
In response to these developments, Ontario has agreed to suspend its 25% surcharge on electricity exports to Michigan, New York, and Minnesota. This move follows Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Canada, prompting Canada to retaliate with its own levies. In response, Ford had introduced the energy surcharge targeting U.S. states reliant on Canadian energy.
Trump countered by doubling taxes on aluminum and steel, escalating the trade dispute further. Meanwhile, Ford has warned that Ontario may reconsider its stance if talks fail to yield a favorable resolution.