The U.S. president has backtracked on his move to double the planned tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports to 50 per cent, according to media reports.
Donald Trump had promised to double the 25 per cent tariff due to take effect on Wednesday after Ontario placed a 25 per cent surcharge on all electricity heading to the United States.
But Premier Doug Ford paused the surcharge Tuesday afternoon after being invited to meet with the Trump administration.
On Monday night, Trump called Canada a “tariff abuser” in response to Ontario’s electricity tariffs.
Ford said the move was in retaliation to Trump’s own tariff threats, which he initially said would happen at the start of February before pausing them for a month.
He threatened them again at the start of March, only to pause some of them for a second time. However, many Canadian provinces are still retaliating until the tariffs are totally dropped.
Ford said the power levy would affect about 1.5 million customers in Minnesota, Michigan and New York, increasing monthly bills by about $100 for the average household or business.
In a statement, Minnesota Power said they have used a small amount of power from Ontario “on occasion,” but that totaled to about $300,000 for all of 2024.
They said they expect the impact of the Ontario power tariffs to have a “negligible” impact.
Trump claims Ford is not allowed to tariff electricity exports, according to a social media post.
He said they will get back any money they lose to the electricity surcharge when reciprocal tariffs kick in on April 2.
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