Ontario Premier Doug Ford warned on Monday that Canada should be prepared to cut electricity and critical mineral exports to the United States if President Donald Trump escalates the trade war.
DR reports that Ford issued the warning during a visit to the Dofasco steel plant in Hamilton, Ontario. He said all options must be in play if Trump escalates, and that Canada should aim its leverage where it has the greatest effect.
According to DR, Ford said retaliation should target heavily Republican states so the American economy feels the pain. Speaking to the Associated Press earlier Monday, he said Ontario is ready to halt deliveries of electricity and critical minerals if the conflict worsens. Per BBC, cited by DR, he also named oil and potash, used in fertilizer, as pressure points.
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What other outlets report
AP reports that Ford said everything is on the table, and that Ontario could raise electricity prices or stop sending power south. He noted that the province supplies power to 1.5 million homes and businesses in the United States. On minerals, he said the U.S. would not get a grain of sand out of Ontario.
Crypto Briefing reports that Ford wrote to Prime Minister Mark Carney on August 17, urging Ottawa to use electricity exports and mineral supply chains as leverage. The outlet says he singled out nickel and cobalt as strategic assets. No government has published a concrete plan to restrict these exports, and AP describes Ford’s statements as options rather than policy.
The tariffs behind the warning
CNN reports that U.S. tariffs of 50 percent took effect at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, after trade talks collapsed. DR writes, citing AP, that the duties hit Canadian goods worth about 20 billion dollars, roughly 128 billion kroner, or about five percent of Canada’s annual exports to the United States. The affected goods range from hockey sticks to agricultural products.
Reuters reports that Carney has announced dollar-for-dollar countermeasures from September 8. They are set to cover American steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural machinery, pulp and paper, and electronics.
DR reports that Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, auto parts and steel to 50 percent from January 1 next year. In a post on Truth Social, the president called Carney and Ford clowns and said someone should make them fall into line.
Ford acknowledged that an escalating conflict would also hurt Canadians, according to DR. Ontario is the center of Canadian car production, where factories and suppliers are closely tied to the industry across the border. Car parts routinely cross the border several times during production, AP writes.
