Ontarios U.S. charm offensive has ended amid new auto tariffs, trade representative says [Video]

Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump again blindsided Canada with the announcement of tariffs on its growing auto sector, Ontario Premier Doug Ford received a call from the U.S. secretary of commerce.

The call, which Global News can confirm and was first reported by the Globe and Mail, wasn’t a heads up but instead a belated explanation of how Trump’s “permanent” auto tariffs will work when they return on April 2.

During the phone call, Ford and Howard Lutnick discussed the impact of the tariffs on Ontario’s auto manufacturing sector, the integrated pan-North American supply chain and a possible fine-tuning of the 25 per cent tariff.

Before the call, Ford said he was caught off guard by the tariff announcement after Canadian and American officials stressed there would be “no surprises” when the two sides had a face-to-face meeting earlier this month.

“We thought we’d be informed,” Ford said at Queen’s Park on Wednesday. …