'You're either with Beijing or you're with Washington': Ford says to Mexico in CNN interview

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has a message for Mexico as the threat of tariffs by incoming president Donald Trump hangs over both sides of the U.S. border.

“Mexico has to make a decision: you're either with Beijing or you're with Washington. I'll tell you what Canadians are with. They're with Washington,” Ford said in an interview on CNN Tuesday night.

Ford has previously accused Mexico of becoming a “backdoor” for Chinese imports, including cars and other products, after the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (formerly NAFTA) was signed.

“Cheap Chinese products going through Mexico. They're slapping the ‘made in Mexico’ sticker on, shipping it up through the US and Canada, and costing American and Canadian jobs,” he said.

The premier’s remarks come under the continuing threat of a 25 per cent tariff by Trump on all goods from Canada and Mexico until both countries secure their borders against the flow of illegal drugs and migrants.

On Tuesday, the federal government announced it’s five-point approach to bolstering border security, including detecting and disrupting the fentanyl trade, new tools for law enforcement, enhancing operational coordination, increasing information sharing, and minimizing unnecessary border volumes.

Ottawa earmarked $1.3 billion for the six-year plan in Monday’s fall economic statement, though Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the plans had been in the works long before that and were not made in an attempt to meet Trump’s demands.

At a premiers meeting on Monday, Ford called on the federal government to do a better job including the province’s leaders in its trade negotiations with the U.S. and called on Ottawa to meet its two per cent NATO spending commitment, something Trump and lawmakers south of the border have long been pushing for.

Ford has also said he wants to negotiate a bilateral U.S.-Canada deal directly.

Cutting off Ontario energy to U.S. the 'last thing' Ford wants to do

Last week, Ford said he was prepared to cut off Ontario-made energy to 1.5 million homes in the U.S. if Trump follows through with his tax.

While Ford has maintained that he is “not backing away whatsoever” from potential retaliatory tariffs, he told CNN Tuesday that cutting power to homes in New York, Michigan, and Wisconsin is the “last thing” he wants to do.

“I want to sell more energy to the U.S., I want to sell more critical minerals to the U.S.,” Ford said.

“Again, we are the closest trading partner, closest allies. We do $1.3 trillion in two-way trade. That's more than Japan, China, UK and France combined. I just feel we aren't the enemy. The big problem, in my opinion, is China.”

Ford has also threatened to restrict the LCBO from buying American-made alcohol, stop the export of critical minerals, and cut the U.S. out of the provincial procurement process if Trump makes good on his threat. He said he hopes he and all the premiers will travel to Washington in February following Trump's inauguration in January. 

With files from Spencer Van Dyk and Mike Le Couteur