Ontario eyes more trade with countries overseas in wake of US tariffs

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By Allison Jones

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Ontario is re-examining its trade strategy in the wake of American tariffs on Canadian goods, looking to focus on opening up new markets and attracting more overseas investment once the immediate economic threat passes.

The province does about $500 billion in annual two-way trade with the United States. It’s the largest trading partner for 17 U.S. states and the second-largest to 11 others — statistics Premier Doug Ford would frequently rattle off in the early days of this trade battle.

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At the time it was a message of joint strength, an “Am-Can Fortress,” as Ford frequently liked to say.

But now, with the United States imposing 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, threatening lumber and dairy tariffs and delaying but not killing across-the-board tariffs on Canadian goods, President Donald Trump has cast a pall on that trade reliance. On Tuesday morning he threatened a 50 per cent tariff in response to Ontario’s tariff on electricity sent to three U.S. states.

Ford said Monday at a press conference that Ontario needs to start focusing its procurements on Ontario-made products — or made in Canada if a good is not produced in the province — but beyond that, the province will look abroad.

“I get it, you know, there’s some things … we just can’t get,” Ford said.

“But we do have 51 countries that we have tariff-free agreements with. Let’s start diversifying our trade. We’ve been doing that, but we need to amp it up twice as much now.”

Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli said in a recent interview that he wants to see the province both expand trade with the U.S. and with other countries.

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“I say, let’s double down on our exports to the U.S.,” he said.

“They’re right next door. We’ve had more than 100 years of trading where we have shared values and shared infrastructure. It just makes such great sense to continue to grow that, but let’s put our foot on the gas even harder overseas.”

Ontario has 14 international trade and investment offices across the world in London, Munich, Paris, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore, India, China, Mexico City and several in the United States. The province will announce a 15th later this year, Fedeli said.

He credits the offices for attracting more than $25 billion in new investments in Ontario and said the recently opened Singapore office opens up more trade and investment opportunities from nearby countries such as Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

India is a prime example of a country ripe for a trade expansion, Fedeli said. When he took over the portfolio in 2019, the briefing binder said there was $400 billion in trade with the U.S. and $400 million in exports to India.

“I thought that was a typo,” he said. “India is so large. Turns out it’s not a typo…So that just tells me we’ve got a blank canvas, and that’s why we spent so much time in India.”

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Several trade missions later, Ontario’s total annual exports to India are $623 million. Fedeli has been on many trade missions around the world on behalf of Ontario, including trips that helped to secure electric vehicle battery plants for the province. He has many more trips planned, but they are all being postponed.

“Our immediate concern is the Trump tariffs,” he said.

“That’s why we’re staying home until there comes a point where we absolutely need to nail down a couple of companies. There’s companies all over the world that are saying, ‘Hey, we need you, we need you here to close a deal,’ but they also understand that we’re under the biggest threat any country could be under.”

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