Statement by Premier Ford on the Conclusion of CUSMA Negotiations
The Voice of Canada News:
Premier Doug Ford issued the following statement on the conclusion of negotiations on the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement:
“I welcome the conclusion of trade talks on the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement. Together, we can now move forward with our North American partners to build a stronger trading relationship that will help businesses grow and create jobs across the continent.
Our government’s top priority throughout these negotiations was to protect jobs for the hard-working people of Ontario. I want to thank the leaders and negotiators from all three countries who worked long hours and reached across party lines to secure this critical deal.
Over the last 16 months, I’ve spoken with 24 U.S. governors and countless U.S. officials to advocate for Ontario’s interests and advance these discussions at the highest levels. In fact, I met with Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s Acting Ambassador to the United States, last week in Washington, D.C. to receive the latest update on the negotiations and offer our ongoing help.
Ontario’s strong relationship with our neighbours to the south cannot be understated. If Ontario were a country, we would be the U.S.’ third largest trading partner. Two-way trade between Ontario and the U.S. amounted to US $301 billion last year. We are the number one customer of 19 U.S. states and second for 9 others.
We hope all of the federal parties will work together to ratify this agreement in Ottawa as quickly as possible to provide businesses with certainty and protect Ontario and Canadian workers, particularly in our auto, steel, and aluminum sectors.
We are further committed to working with the federal government to ensure the supply managed agricultural sectors who are impacted by provisions made in the agreement will receive full and fair compensation, and that our farmers remain top of mind as CUSMA is ratified by all parties.
We will continue to work with the federal government and with U.S. states to advocate that Canada and Ontario are exempted from damaging ‘Buy American’ provisions that hurt Ontario businesses and workers.
As Prime Minister Trudeau and I noted in our recent meeting, Ontario continues to play an important role in promoting Canada’s trade interests and strengthening our historic ties with our U.S. partners for the benefit of the people of our province and all Canadians.”
