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Canada’s Ontario province has hit US power exports with a 25 per cent surcharge as Canada steps up its retaliation against Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The levy will have an impact on 1.5mn homes and businesses in Michigan, Minnesota and New York and cost families and businesses in the three states up to $400,000 a day, Ontario premier Doug Ford said during a press conference on Monday.
“On an average, this will add around $100 per month to the bills of hard-working Americans,” Ford said, adding that “until the threat of tariffs is gone for good, Ontario will not relent”.
He also said that, “if necessary, if the United States escalates, I will not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely”.
Ontario’s threat to the North American power grid highlights how the US president Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico, America’s two biggest trading partners, are taking a growing economic toll on the US economy. Trump last week imposed 25 per cent tariffs on most Canadian and Mexican goods, but eventually made a U-turn by creating a carve-out for those subject to the sweeping United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a regulatory body that monitors the reliability of the power systems in the US and Canada, warned last week that energy stability could be imperilled if the two countries restricted cross-border electricity and gas supplies in a trade war.
This is a developing story
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