Ontario to Suspend Electricity Export Tariff After Premier, US Commerce Secretary Speak

Ford and Lutnick will meet in Washington on March 13 “to discuss a renewed USMCA ahead of the April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford holds a news conference in Toronto, on March 4, 2025. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP

Ontario says it will suspend its 25 percent surcharge on electricity exports to Michigan, New York, and Minnesota after Premier Doug Ford and United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick spoke and arranged another meeting in Washington this week.

A joint statement from Ford and Lutnick said they had “a productive conversation about the economic relationship” between their two countries and would meet in Washington on March 13 to discuss a “renewed” United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ahead of the April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline.

“Secretary Lutnick has sent out an olive branch to us, to come down and immediately meet with him,” Ford said during a March 11 press conference in Toronto. “We’re going to be talking about the USMCA moving forward. The worst thing that could happen is to wait and let this drag out until April 2.”

Ford and federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc will travel to Washington, D.C., March 13 to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump’s commerce team, the premier said, adding that he wasn’t sure whether he would meet with the president.

The invitation comes a day after Ford’s government put a 25 percent tax on electricity supplied to New York, Michigan, and Minnesota, in response to the ongoing tariff threat from the United States.

Trump vowed earlier today to double the tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in response, raising them from 25 percent to 50 percent when they are scheduled to start March 12.

While Ontario has rescinded its 25 percent tariff on the electricity it sells to the United States for now, the U.S. has yet to clarify its position on the continuation of the 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum that were enacted in response.

Ford said he is “pretty confident” Trump “will pull back” the reciprocal tariff, adding that Lutnick planned to discuss the issue with Trump today.

Ford had said a 50 percent tariff on steel and aluminum will be just as damaging to the United States as it is to Canada. The U.S. manufactures 16 percent of the aluminum it needs, with the majority of the deficit being fulfilled by Quebec, he added.

The apparent de-escalation between Canada’s most populated province and the U.S. comes after Trump took to social media saying Ontario must remove the electricity surcharge or face the reciprocal tariff on steel and aluminum.

In a subsequent Truth Social post, he said Ontario and Canada would “pay a financial price for this so big that it will be read about in History Books for many years to come!”

Ford had told MSNBC in a March 11 interview that he had no intention of reversing his decision despite Trump’s threat of 50 percent tariffs on aluminum and steel.

“We will not back down,” Ford said. “We will be relentless.”

Ford held a press conference March 10 to announce the implementation of the electricity surcharge, indicating that the adjustment of the tariff—whether it will be decreased or increased—will depend on Trump’s actions in the coming weeks. He said there was also the possibility of shutting off the power completely.

The electricity tariff will be paid by utility providers in the three states, netting the province an estimated $300,000 to $400,000 per day, Ford said. The tax will add roughly $100 per month to the bills of 1.5 million American households and businesses.

The White House made a direct reference to Ford during its afternoon press conference.

“The president saw the premier, Doug Ford, make an egregious and insulting comment threatening to shut down electricity for the American people,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

“He made that threat. The president saw that and has an obligation and a responsibility to respond accordingly and represent the interests of the American people.”

Tariff Threats

Trump implemented 25 percent tariffs on items imported from Canada on March 4 with a lower rate of 10 percent on Canadian energy products, but announced March 5 that U.S. automakers would receive a reprieve until April 2.

Trump issued another executive order on March 6, granting an exemption from the 25 percent tariffs for goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) until April 2. That impacts roughly 38 percent of the goods the U.S. imports from Canada.

Canada responded by implementing tariffs on CA$30 billion worth of U.S. exports to Canada last week, while Ontario has removed all American alcohol from its government-operated liquor stores and halted procurement opportunities for companies based in the United States.

Ford said he is concerned a drawn-out trade war will devastate the economies of both countries, pointing to the “tumbling” stock market as evidence that an uncertain economic situation is bad for the United States and Canada.

The stock market is not his only concern, however. China will also feature strongly in his upcoming discussions with Lutnick later this week, Ford said.

“I’m a business person, I want to sit down and negotiate this and stop the bleeding,” he said. “As we’re going at each other, China is sitting back laughing, building their critical mental arsenal.”