Canadian official threatens to cut off energy to US if Trump imposes tariffs
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has reiterated that his province, the most populous in Canada, may cease its electricity deliveries to the United States if former President Donald Trump decides to impose high tariffs on Canadian goods, local media reported on Friday.
“We will go to the full extent depending on how far this goes. We will go to the extent of cutting off their energy, going down to Michigan, going down to New York State and over to Wisconsin,” Ford warned.
“I don’t want this to happen, but my No. 1 job is to protect Ontario, Ontarians, and Canadians as a whole since we’re the largest province,” he added.
On Wednesday, Ford and other regional leaders held a virtual meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that lasted about 90 minutes. They discussed Trump’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian and Mexican imports unless both countries take action to end illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling into U.S. territory.
According to Statistics Canada, Ontario exported 13.9 million megawatt-hours of electricity to the United States in 2023, accounting for approximately 13% of Canada’s total electricity exports to American customers.
