Ontario Premier Doug Ford warned he may retaliate by cutting off electricity to the U.S. if President Donald Trump does not walk away from his full-blown trade war.
“The president needs to be stopped,” Ford told CNN on Tuesday morning. “Simple as that.”
Ford announced the same day that Ontario will impose a 25% export tax on electricity it sends to homes and businesses in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported.
But the staunch anti-Trump politician, who governs Canada’s most populated province, suggested that he could take the retaliation further if Trump does not call off the 25 percent tariffs imposed on the country Tuesday.
“If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do everything — including cut off their energy with a smile on my face," he said.
The Ontario leader reminded Americans that countless families depend on Canada to keep their lights on. The province powers 1.5 million homes and businesses in New York, Michigan, and Minnesota.
“They rely on our energy,” he said. “They need to feel the pain.”
Canadians are usually associated with maple syrup and hockey—not revenge. But Ford assured CNN this morning that his constituents are “absolutely livid. They’re furious.”
“I’ve never seen patriotism run so wild across our country,” he said. “Right now in the grocery aisles, people are refusing to buy American products.”
Ford, who has long been a critic of Trump’s policies, was re-elected less than a week ago, largely for campaigning against Trump’s trade war. The 60-year-old politician called for a premature election—nearly a year before he was supposed to run again—because he needed a “strong mandate” from voters to counter Trump.
He has spent the last several weeks traveling to Washington and urging the U.S. government to rule against tariffs. The tariffs will especially impact Ontario, which is home to 40 percent of the country’s population and some of its largest at-risk industries—manufacturing, technology, and automotive.
“We love the American people, but unfortunately the president has gone sideways on ourselves,” Ford told CNN.
The trade war may also put a burden on American wallets. Even though Trump vowed to future voters that he’d tackle high prices, inflation in the U.S. has increased since he took office. It rose to a six-month high of 3 percent in January.
Economics experts say that tariffs will only make things worse. Foreign goods will only get more expensive—similar to Trump’s first term, when consumers bore the brunt of the costs after Trump placed tariffs on solar panels, washing machines, steel, and aluminum.
Trump claims that the tariffs will prevent illegal drugs from entering the U.S. But distressed world leaders say it’ll only hurt everyday buyers. And they’re ready to retaliate.
Or, as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau noted in a Monday statement: “Canada will not let this unjustified decision go unanswered.”
