The trade war between the US and Canada is raging on, as President Donald Trump wasted no time in signing off on ‘catastrophic’ tariffs to its neighboring trading partners almost immediately after being sworn into office for his second term in January.
Trump accused Canada, Mexico, and China of failing to stop a ‘flow of illicit drugs’ crossing US borders and cited immigration and trade deficits among his justification for the tax hikes.
In February, he promised to roll out 25 percent hikes on goods coming from Canada and Mexico and after retaliatory threats, he paused the plan for a month up until March 4 with further tariffs said to take hold on April 2.
The president has since suggested the only solution for Canada to dodge the tariffs hikes would be to become the US’ ‘cherished 51st state,’ further aggravating tensions by calling Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ‘Governor of Canada’. But Trudeau snapped back that counter-tariffs would be applied to US goods, while Premier of Ontario Doug Ford threatened to hike prices or even shut off the power entirely to 1.5 million US citizens residing in Minnesota, New York, and Michigan.
Now, Ford appears to be standing strong with his finger poised on the switch, saying he will ‘shut the electricity off completely’ if the US continues to ‘escalate’.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Ford said: “If the United States escalates, I will not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely. Believe me when I say I do not want to do this, I feel terrible for the American people, because it’s not the American people who started this trade war.
“It’s one person who’s responsible. That’s President Trump.”
The electricity hike would see Americans in the three US states face higher energy bills by about $100.
The Premier reiterated in an interview with Fox Business that the plan would go ahead, adding: “Isn’t this a shame. It’s an absolute mess… he’s created chaos.”
On Twitter, Ford explained further: “The only thing that’s certain today is more uncertainty. A pause on some tariffs means nothing. Until President Trump removes the threat of tariffs for good, we will be relentless.”
Trump snapped back by mocking Ford’s plan, alleging the retaliation will only harm Ontario further.
He said on his social media platform, Truth Social: “Despite the fact that Canada is charging the USA from 250 percent to 390 percent Tariffs on many of our farm products, Ontario just announced a 25 percent surcharge on ‘electricity,’ of all things, and you’re not even allowed to do that.”
He doubled down by promising the US will ‘just get it all back on April 2’ when the reciprocal tariff plan takes effect.
He added: “Canada is a Tariff abuser, and always has been, but the United States is not going to be subsidizing Canada any longer. We don’t need your Cars, we don’t need your Lumber, we don’t your Energy, and very soon, you will find that out.”
Canada’s newly elected prime minister Mark Carney has also vowed to fight the trade war, saying that the taxes present the ‘greatest crisis in our lifetime’ for Canadians.
The new tariffs would be the most transformative trade change since 1890, when the US imposed 50 percent hikes on all manufacturing goods under the then-president William McKinley, who Trump calls the ‘tariff king’.
