Ontario Places Tariff on Electricity to US

In a move to counter President Donald Trump's 25% tariff on Canadian imports, Ontario Premier Doug Ford vowed to cut electricity exports to U.S. border states, if necessary.

"If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do everything — including cut off their energy with a smile on my face," Ford told reporters Monday at a mining convention in downtown Toronto, the Toronto Sun reported.

"They rely on our energy, they need to feel the pain. They want to come at us hard, we're going to come back twice as hard."

New York, Michigan and Minnesota are Ontario's top three customers of domestically produced power.

Ford said Ontario will slap a 25% export tax on electricity it sends to 1.5 million homes in those three states, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Ford added that he will direct the province's energy producers to shut down the exports entirely if Trump moves ahead with even more tariffs on April 2.

Trump's long-threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico went into effect Tuesday, putting global markets on edge and setting up costly retaliations by the United States' North American allies.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday said Canada will impose 25% tariffs on $107 billion worth of U.S. goods if the Trump administration follows through with its proposed tariffs on Canadian goods.

According to the Canada Energy Regulator, 2022 revenue from Canadian electricity sales to the U.S. topped $5.8 billion, an all-time high, with Quebec and Ontario leading other provinces.

Ford said he plans to match the U.S. tariff, dollar for dollar.

"That's exactly what we're going to do," Ford said. "The provinces have a big say in it, but it's the federal government that's leading the charge, and we're going to stand shoulder-to-shoulder no matter who's in the federal government."

The Texas Interconnection is the only part of the U.S. grid not connected with Canadian provinces.

The Eastern Interconnection operates in states east of the Rocky Mountains, and the Western Interconnection covers the Pacific Ocean to the Rocky Mountain states.

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