Ontario will "respond appropriately" to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff escalation following the province's implementation of a surcharge on electricity exports, Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday.
Ford was speaking in an interview on MSNBC moments after Trump said he would double an imminent tariff on steel and aluminum from Canada in response to Ontario placing a surcharge on electricity it sends to three U.S. states.
"I will respond appropriately on the electricity," he said. "Stay tuned."
Ford is set to speak Tuesday with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
On Monday, Ontario enacted the surcharge of 25 per cent on electricity exported to 1.5 million homes in New York, Michigan and Minnesota, and Ford said he could raise that amount even higher in response to further American escalation.
Trump posted on social media Tuesday morning that in response he would tariff Canadian steel and aluminum at 50 per cent, instead of the 25 per cent that was set to go into effect Wednesday.
He also threatened to "substantially increase" tariffs on auto imports on April 2, which Trump predicted would "permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada."
Ford did not give an indication in the MSNBC interview — one of many interviews he did Tuesday to take his message to Americans — of what he is considering for his response in turn, but he has previously threatened to cut off the supply of electricity to the three states.
Ford has previously said that Ontario’s retaliatory measures — also including removing American alcohol from Liquor Control Board of Ontario shelves and banning American companies from government procurement contracts — would stay in place until all U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods are removed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2025.
Allison Jones, The Canadian Press