LILLEY: Ford takes tariff fight to U.S. capitol, proposes 'Fortress Am-Can'

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WASHINGTON — Doug Ford went to Washington with a message for business leaders, politicians and especially Donald Trump — focus on our common economic enemy, China.

Armed with shiny brochures championing and laying out his Fortress Am-Can policy agenda, Ford used a speech before the American Chamber of Commerce to take aim at Beijing.

Considering that most of Trump’s moves — from tariffs, to floating the idea of taking back control of the Panama Canal, acquiring Greenland and cracking down on the fentanyl trade — are all aimed at China and ensuring U.S. dominance, it’s not a bad message for Ford to deliver. In fact, eventually it might be the only message that could break through for a president as obsessed with China as he is with tariffs.

Ford portrayed the trade between Canada and the U.S. as fair, unlike what he said China offers both of our countries.

“Fair trade means fighting back against freeloaders that rip off workers by taking advantage of free-trade agreements designed to protect jobs at home. I’m talking about China,” Ford said in one of the many mentions of the U.S. rival.

To counter what China is putting forward — unfair trading practices, attempts to undermine U.S. dominance and mountains of fentanyl being dumped into North America — Ford said the answer is Fortress Am-Can.

“Fortress Am-Can is a renewed alliance between America and Canada that’s a beacon of stability, security and long-term economic growth on both sides of the border,” Ford said.

Ford has been talking about this idea, a fortress around Canada and the U.S., since shortly after Trump was elected. Knowing that tariffs were possibly coming and that Trump had Mexico and China in his sights, Ford began talking about this as a way to protect jobs, communities and borders, while expanding economic growth and building energy security and natural resource development.

Clearly, it didn’t work.

Then again, it’s not exactly an idea that has the support of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberal government. They’ve been too busy playing political games with Trump and the border issue to take meaningful action. Trudeau would rather insult Trump and feel smug than do the work needed to protect Canada’s economy.

Ford’s speech and fireside chat with Neil Herrington, senior vice-president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, received a warm welcome from the roughly 150 people in attendance. That’s not surprising given that it was a business audience and more than half of them were Canadian.

That and the fact that Trump seems hell-bent on imposing tariffs on every country — no matter what — have some critics calling the value of the trip into question. In Ontario, NDP Leader Marit Stiles and Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie were critical of Ford’s decision to go to Washington.

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Eric Miller, a D.C.-based consultant and president of Rideau Potomac Strategy Group, said it was important for Ford to bring his message to the U.S. capitol.

“This is the time to be doing the work to get the tariffs off,” Miller said.

Miller said all Canadian politicians are duty-bound to make the case for Canada, but added that Trump will likely need to see the pain of tariffs on the U.S. economy before reversing course.

In addition to speaking with the business group in the morning, Ford also held meetings with three American politicians.

Lisa McClain represents Michigan’s ninth district in the House of Representatives, an area with a significant number of auto industry jobs. She also serves as chair of the House Republican Conference. Rob Whittman represents Virginia in the House and sits on the armed services and natural resources committees.

In the evening, Ford hosted an off-the-record reception at the Library of Congress with politicians of all parties invited as well as business leaders. The co-host of that reception was Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota who is familiar with cross-border issues.

On Wednesday, the premiers will meet as a group in Washington to try to convince more U.S. politicians that putting tariffs on Canada isn’t in anyone’s best interest.