Has President Trump Met His Match?

President Trump's trade war with Canada has a new combatant: Doug Ford, who has served as the premier of Ontario since 2018, “has made good on his threat to slap a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity sold to the U.S. in retaliation for President Donald Trump‘s tariffs,” reports Rob Ferguson in a developing story for the Toronto Star on March 10.

[Yes, tariffs can be applied on imports or exports of goods.]

Ferguson adds that the  “tariff response charge” would raise “an estimated $300,000 to $400,000 per day” and “will be paid by utilities in New York, Michigan and Minnesota that import power from generators of electricity in Ontario."

“Until these tariffs are off the table, until the threat of tariffs is gone for good, Ontario will not relent,” Ford said Monday. “We will not back down … we will apply maximum pressure to maximize our leverage.”

Ford had warned the three governors of the pending move last week, and reiterated that he “will not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely” if Trump escalates the trade war. 

Ford hoped that the export energy tariff would spread to other provinces.

Ford said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith should agree to a federal surcharge on her province’s high volume of oil and gas exports south of the border, calling it a “trump card.”

“The Americans, all of a sudden their gas prices go up 90 (cents) to a dollar a gallon, they will lose their minds,” added Ford. “We need to at least put that in the window.”

However, Smith would have none of it, “calling it 'an absurd and self-destructive idea' for an industry that is the lifeblood of Alberta’s economy,” added Ferguson.

Rob Gillies of The Associated Press also reported on Ontario's electricity export tariffs that became effective Monday.