Trump responds to Ontario's electricity surcharge in late-night social media post

Lucas Powers · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 11, 2025 9:47 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

Ontario Premier Doug Ford's determination to enforce a surcharge connected energy flowing southbound of the borderline seems to person gotten the attraction of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump turned his sights connected the caller levy successful a precocious nighttime station connected his Truth Social platform.

"Despite the information that Canada is charging the USA from 250% to 390% Tariffs connected galore of our workplace products, Ontario conscionable announced a 25% surcharge connected "electricity," of each things, and your not adjacent allowed to bash that," helium wrote.

It is not wholly wide what Trump meant by saying Ontario is "not adjacent allowed to bash that." 

"Because our Tariffs are reciprocal, we'll conscionable get it each backmost connected April 2. Canada is simply a Tariff abuser, and ever has been, but the United States is not going to beryllium subsidizing Canada immoderate longer. We don't request your Cars, we don't request your Lumber, we don't your Energy, and precise soon, you volition find that out," he continued.

Trump launched a commercialized warfare against Canada soon aft taking office, contempt a longstanding economic, taste and subject confederation betwixt the neighbouring nations. His medication has said it volition enforce 25 per cent tariffs connected astir Canadian goods and 10 per cent connected energy.

Amid intensely antagonistic banal marketplace reaction, Trump temporarily paused implementation of the tariffs connected Canadian exports "compliant" with the presumption of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) until April 2.

The Trump administration's argumentation targeting Canadian goods contravenes CUSMA, a escaped commercialized woody that Trump himself spearheaded and a fewer years ago called "the champion and astir important commercialized woody ever made by the USA." It besides comes arsenic Trump and immoderate of his closest aides marque repeated overtures threatening Canada's territorial sovereignty.

Both Ontario and the national authorities person said they volition determination up with retaliatory measures until the tariffs are wholly disconnected the table.

On Monday, Ford announced his authorities would instrumentality a 25 per cent surcharge connected Ontario-generated energy purchased by New York, Michigan and Minnesota.

Ontario provides powerfulness to astir 1.5 cardinal customers successful those bluish borderline states, which sometimes besides re-sell that energy to adjacent much states, chiefly successful the northeast.

The state estimates the levy volition make up to $400,000 per day, depending connected the season. That wealth volition beryllium utilized to trim powerfulness bills for ratepayers successful Ontario, according to the Ministry of Energy.

Ontario has besides taken American booze disconnected LCBO shelves and banned U.S. companies from authorities procurement contracts, successful summation to the national government's archetypal circular of retaliatory tariffs connected $30 cardinal worthy of U.S. goods.