Escalation comes with the President citing Ontario's decision to maintain electricity tax
US President Donald Trump has just announced that he will increase tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium to 50%. The President has declared a ‘national emergency on electricity’, which he claims will last until Canada removes its trade barriers on dairy and electricity.
The President outlined his stance in a social media post, claiming this was due to Ontario’s electricity surcharge.
“Despite the fact that Canada is charging the USA from 250% to 390% Tariffs on many of our farm products, Ontario just announced a 25% surcharge on “electricity,” of all things, and your[sic] not even allowed to do that. Because our Tariffs are reciprocal, we’ll just get it all back on April 2,” the President wrote.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced yesterday that the province would apply a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity sent to Michigan, New York, and Minnesota. He said he would “not hesitate” to increase the charge or cut off power entirely if the trade war persists.
Speaking to reporters at Queen’s Park Tuesday Morning, the Premier appeared ready to match the US President’s bellicose rhetoric.
“I will tell you the stock markets are tumbling, it is affecting Americans and it will affect Canadians as well,” Ford said. “People are going to be losing their jobs in the U.S. and he (Trump) has to stop the tariffs because we will be relentless in Ontario and we will not stop until he drops the tariffs.”
