Ontario businesses brace for tariffs as Canada-U.S. trade deal collapses

Canada and the U.S. failed to reach a trade agreement Friday night, triggering a 50 per cent tariff on roughly $28 billion in Canadian goods including steel, aluminum and auto exports.

Prime Minister Carney said at a press conference Saturday morning that the U.S. proposed new terms that were "uneconomic, unfair and undermine the net benefits to Canada." Canada is "reluctantly" introducing retaliatory tariffs "dollar for dollar" across several sectors including dairy, steel, paper and electronics, effective after Labour Day.

For Ontario businesses, the impact is immediate. Items subject to the new tariffs represent about nine per cent of Ontario's total exports to the U.S. in 2025, according to Statistics Canada. Kimberly Turner-Briscoe, president of a Scarborough-based steel fastener supplier, said she's had countless sleepless nights figuring out how to keep her business going. She's already pivoted away from U.S. markets and laid off staff over the past few years. "Don't back down. No deal is better than a bad deal," she said as a message to the government.

Premier Ford called the deal "bad for Ontario, bad for the auto sector and steel sector and manufacturing sector" and urged Ontarians to "stay strong." He said the province's diversified economy would be able to withstand the challenges and committed to supporting workers in impacted sectors.

Giles Gherson, president of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, called the tariffs a "direct hit" to jobs and investments in the region and urged provinces and the federal government to coordinate action. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow echoed those sentiments, saying the city would use its purchasing power to buy local. She said Toronto is on track to create thousands of new jobs even as the U.S. loses them.