(Hill) – Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford said he is ready to cut off electricity exports to the United States on Monday if President Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canadian goods pass.
“If they want to annihilate Ontario, I’ll do it all – including cutting off their energy with a smile on my face,” Ford told reporters at a mining convention in downtown Toronto, the Toronto Sun reported.
Ford doubled his pledge to retaliate by matching the tariffs. It noted that the US is a major customer of Canada’s electricity.
“They depend on our energy. They need to feel the pain. They want to come hard. We’ll come hard. We’ll come hard.”
Sun reported that Ford said he would spend the dollars on tariffs. “That’s exactly what we’re trying to do.”
Ford suggested that federal and state governments are united in an approach to combating US tariffs.
“The state has a big voice, but it is the federal government that is leading the charges and will stand shoulder to shoulder no matter who there is.
“I did not start this tariff war, but I intend to win this tariff war,” Ford added.
The remarks said Trump announced on Monday that 25% tariffs in Canada and Mexico will be officially put into effect Tuesday, saying there is no room for trade before the 30-day delay expires.
“Taxes, they’re all set, they’ll come into effect tomorrow,” Trump added, “there’s no rooms left in Mexico or Canada” to make a deal by midnight.
Last week, Trump warned that after a conversation with Canadian and Mexican leaders, he delayed them for a month, tariffs had moved forward and agreed to action to deal with the drug flow at the border.
Trump on Monday said “a huge amount of fentanyl has been poured into our country,” and mainly from China through Mexico, and he encouraged carmakers to build plants in the US to avoid future tariffs.
“So all they have to do is, frankly, build their car plants, and the rest of the US.
The President also announced that mutual tariffs will begin on April 2nd. This covers imports from all countries that collect import taxes on US goods.
