Ontario Premier Doug Ford prepares to speak to an American news outlet in his office at the Queens Park Legislature in Toronto on Monday, March 10, 2025.
In a major development on Tuesday, Ontario, Canada, suspended its 25% surcharge on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York, and Minnesota. Premier Doug Ford also said that he, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and the United States Trade Representative will meet on March 13 to discuss a renewed USMCA ahead of the April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline. Ford announced the move on X and indicated that he and Lutnick had a “productive conversation about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada.”
The announcement follows US President Donald Trump’s threat Tuesday morning that tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports would increase from 25% to 50% starting March 12. Trump said he would declare a “national emergency” in the three states and posted to Truth Social, “Why would our Country allow another Country to supply us with electricity, even for a small area? Who made these decisions, and why? And can you imagine Canada stooping so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the life of innocent people, as a bargaining chip and threat?”
Trump did not mention that his 10% tariff on energy imports also could include electricity, an issue that American power companies have been trying to sort out. Canada and the United States have traded electricity for over a century, for reasons of affordability.