Ford specifically cited high-grade nickel shipped to the United States and uranium refined in Ontario.

“What would they do without the high-grade nickel that we ship down to the U.S.?” Ford said.

Ford said Canada should consider increasingly severe retaliation if Trump continues targeting Canadian industries, including oil and potash, while Ontario could raise electricity prices or stop sending power south.

“We power 1.5 million homes and businesses,” Ford said. “Everything’s on the table. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

If Trump continues trying to dismantle Canadian manufacturing, Ford said, “he better have a pack of batteries.”

Ford has used electricity as leverage before. During an earlier phase of the dispute, Ontario imposed a 25% surcharge on electricity exported to Michigan, Minnesota and New York. Trump responded by threatening to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum before both sides backed away.

Auto industry becomes a central battleground

Ford accused Trump of seeking not simply a better trade deal but to hollow out Canadian industries and move production south.

Ford said Trump wants to make Canada a vassal state.

“He wants to bleed out every single sector and bring them down to the U.S.,” Ford said.

The auto sector is especially important to Ontario, the center of Canada’s vehicle manufacturing industry. Plants and suppliers in Ontario are tightly integrated with factories in Michigan and other U.S. states, with parts routinely crossing the border multiple times during production.

Automakers including Ford, General Motors and Stellantis operate major assembly plants in Ontario, and the wider supply chain supports tens of thousands of jobs. Trump’s new threat of a 50% tariff on Canadian vehicles and parts puts that sector directly at the center of the escalating dispute.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Monday that “the only reason Canada has auto production in the first place” was because of the 1960s Auto Pact, under which Canada used access to its market to encourage vehicle production north of the border.

“If he thinks the Canadian people are going to roll over and just continue buying American-made vehicles, it’s not going to happen,” Ford said.

Ford says he opposed preliminary deal

Ford also disclosed that he had opposed the preliminary agreement Carney was considering before Canada walked away from the negotiations.

“I wasn’t supporting the deal,” Ford said.

Ford said he was unwilling to restore American liquor to Ontario store shelves as part of an agreement and had been prepared to publicly break with the proposed deal.

“I wasn’t going to put the booze back on the shelves,” Ford said. “I was ready to go out there and call a press conference … and say I’m not buckling over.”

Ford said he understood Washington had sought language late in the negotiations that would have restricted Canada’s ability to negotiate trade agreements with other countries without U.S. approval. Carney has called that demand unacceptable and a question of Canadian sovereignty.

“Who does he think he is?” Ford said of Trump. “You gotta be kidding.”

Reagan fight returns

Ford’s Reagan comments revived an earlier clash with Trump. Last year, Ontario paid for U.S. television advertisements featuring excerpts from a 1987 Reagan address warning that tariffs can provoke retaliation and trade wars.

Trump accused Ontario of misrepresenting Reagan and abruptly ended trade negotiations with Canada. Ford later agreed to pause the campaign so talks could resume.

“He doesn’t respect anyone,” Ford sad.

Yet despite the increasingly hostile rhetoric, Ford said Canada should remain willing to negotiate.

“I never believe in walking away from the table,” Ford said. “Continue negotiating and see where we go.”

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Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed from Washington.

Rob Gillies, The Associated Press