Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, retaliated against President Trump’s economic threats on Monday by imposing a 25 percent tariff on the energy that it exports to Michigan, Minnesota and New York.
The move will cost businesses and residents in each state up to $400,000 per day, and lift the average energy bill by about $100 per month, Premier Doug Ford said at a news conference. The province exports enough energy to power about 1.5 million homes and businesses in those states, he added. They went into effect on Monday.
President Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports last Tuesday, but then on Thursday decided to suspend most of them for 30 days as part of his on-again, off-again use of economic weapons against various countries.
Mr. Ford said he would continue to leverage the province’s key exports to the United States and exert “maximum pressure,” warning he would shut off the supply of electricity completely if the Trump administration does not back down on tariffs.
“Until these tariffs are off the table, until the threat of tariffs is gone for good, we will not relent,” Mr. Ford said. “Pausing some tariffs, making last-minute exemptions, it won’t cut it. We need to end the chaos once and for all.”
Mr. Ford has been a leading politician in Canada’s battle against Mr. Trump, taking other actions such as removing American alcohol products from government-run liquor stores.