A one-month reprieve on US tariffs won’t change Ontario’s plan to impose a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to three American states, Premier Doug Ford confirmed Thursday.
The energy tax, set to begin Monday, targets power supplied to approximately 1.5 million homes and businesses in New York, Michigan, and Minnesota. It comes as part of a broader provincial response to trade tensions that erupted when the US imposed tariffs on Canadian goods earlier this week.
“We have learned one thing. You touch a stove and you burn yourself, you don’t touch that stove again,” Ford told Fox Business, emphasizing his government’s resolve despite President Donald Trump’s announcement temporarily exempting many Canadian and Mexican goods from tariffs until April 2.
Ford’s administration has already implemented several countermeasures, including:
- Removing roughly 3,600 US products from provincial liquor control board shelves
- Canceling a $100 million contract with Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet company
- Prohibiting American companies from bidding on approximately $15 billion in government procurement contracts
The provincial leader has even warned he could escalate the situation further. During an interview with Newstalk 1010 radio, Ford said he would increase the electricity export tax to 50% if Trump’s “economic attack” on Canada continued.
Ford noted in a Fox Business appearance that the temporary US tariff exemption covers only 62% of Canadian goods under the North American free trade agreement, leaving many products still subject to a 25% tariff.
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