Article content

(Bloomberg) — Ontario will impose a 25% tariff on power it sends to 1.5 million homes in Minnesota, Michigan and New York in response to fresh US levies, Premier Doug Ford announced Tuesday.

Article content

“If these tariffs persist, if the Trump administration follows through on any more tariffs, we will immediately apply a 25% surcharge on the electricity we export,” Ford told reporters at the provincial legislature. “We will not hesitate to shut off their power as well.”

The move is retaliation for President Donald Trump’s 25% duties on most imports from Canada that went into effect earlier Tuesday. 

Article content

The Ontario export tariff was reported earlier in the Wall Street Journal. 

The province has also banned all US-based companies from government contracts, and Ford has ended his province’s contract with Starlink, the Elon Musk-controlled satellite network. “It’s done; it’s gone,” he said of the deal.

Ford also said he was prepared to cut off nickel exports to the US. “It will shut down manufacturing because 50% of the nickel you use is coming out of Ontario,” the provincial leader said Monday in an interview with NBC News.

Canada implemented counter-tariffs Tuesday. The first stage places 25% tariffs on about C$30 billion ($20.7 billion) worth of goods from US exporters. A second round of tariffs at the same rate will be placed on C$125 billion of products in three weeks — a list that will include big-ticket items like cars, trucks, steel and aluminum. 

The energy tariffs come as states including New York try to clean up their power grids and add capacity to meet surging demand from artificial intelligence and electric cars.

—With assistance from Stephanie Hughes.

Share this article in your social network