Ontario walks back U.S. electricity surtax after Trump threats

(The Center Square) – Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday he would suspend the province's 25% tariff on U.S.-bound electricity after getting a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and hours after President Donald Trump threatened to double tariffs on Canada.

Ford previously said Tuesday he wouldn't budge on the electricity surtax until Trump dropped his tariff threats. Hours later, he changed course after scheduling a meeting Thursday with Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

"I'm not out to hurt the American people,” Ford told reporters in Toronto. "Sometimes you have to play your cards, and this is one of the cards we played, and hopefully we're going to have a very good constructive conversation."

Ford reversed course hours after Trump said that he would double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in response to the 25% tariffs Ontario put on electricity going to the U.S. Trump said the tariffs would cripple Canada's auto industry.

Trump's proposed tariffs, of up to 50%, come amid an ongoing trade spat with Canada. On Monday, the Canadian province of Ontario announced it was going ahead with a 25% retaliatory tariff on electricity exports to the United States expected to affect 1.5 million homes and businesses in Michigan, Minnesota and New York. Ford estimated the tariffs would mean an additional $69 monthly charge for consumers in the three states.

Trump has promised that his tariffs would shift the tax burden away from Americans and onto foreign countries, but tariffs are generally paid by the people who import the products. Those importers then have a choice: They can either absorb the loss or pass it on to consumers through higher prices. He also promised tariffs would make America "rich as hell." And he's used tariffs as a negotiating tactic to tighten border security.

Trump granted temporary tariff relief to Canada and Mexico last week by exempting goods under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement from tariffs until April 2.

On April 2, Trump plans to announce broader reciprocal tariffs against countries that impose tariffs on U.S. goods or keep U.S. goods out of their markets through other methods.