Premier Ford and Michigan Governor Whitmer talk trade, cooperation, and closer ties ahead of their cross-border meeting.
The governor of Michigan says her state feels the pain of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs “harder and faster than almost any other state.”
“Tariffs have been incredibly challenging for Michigan,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told reporters at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.
“It is agriculture that has been hit so hard, and it is manufacturing, and that’s who we are. That’s what we do. There’s a saying in the United States: When we catch a cold, Michigan gets the flu.”
The border crossing Michigan and Ontario share is considered the busiest for goods between Canada and the U.S. The state and the province also share an integrated auto supply chain with vehicle parts crossing the border several times.
That’s why Trump’s tariffs on auto parts, steel and aluminum, and other goods not covered under the Canada-United States-Mexico (CUSMA) agreement have impacted the two jurisdictions.
In Ontario, 29,400 jobs were lost in the second quarter of the year due to the tariffs, according to the province’s financial watchdog. Meanwhile, Michigan lost 7,500 manufacturing jobs since Trump returned to the White House, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Whitmer acknowledged that her state and Ontario’s economic lives are intertwined and are “virtually cousins,” which she said is why strengthening the partnership is one of her top priorities.
“I think that our economic fates are intertwined, and that’s why we take seriously the growth of this relationship and bringing to bear common sense strategies at the national level,” she said.
“We can build our commerce together. We can solve problems together. We can literally connect our people when we work together.”
Ford, for his part, described his meeting with Whitmer as “great,” saying they talked about growing Michigan and Ontario’s economies amid the tariffs.
“We’re each other’s largest trading partner. We do approximately $61 billion of two-way trade between Michigan and Ontario,” Ford said.
He also praised the governor for her efforts to make Trump accountable for his tariffs.
“I love the U.S., and I know Canadians love Americans in the U.S. There’s one person causing a problem,” Ford said, not saying the U.S. president’s name.
“Moving forward, let’s not worry about that one person. Let’s focus on what we can do together, how we can grow the economies on both sides of the border.”
When asked if Ford’s new strategy is to ignore Trump, the premier reiterated previous remarks that the U.S. President “drives me crazy.”
“We got to focus on what we can do and stop worrying about that guy south of the border. And we have great friends and great allies,” he said.
Ford noted that he and Whitmer did not talk about the surcharge that Ontario briefly applied on the electricity exports to Michigan in response to Trump’s tariffs.
With files from The Associated Press