Ontario suspended its 25 percent electricity export tariff after premier and U.S. commerce secretary spoke on March 11.
President Donald Trump will not double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum after Ontario suspended its 25 percent tax on energy exports in response to U.S. tariffs, White House officials say.
“After President Trump threatened to use his executive powers to retaliate with a colossal 50 percent tariff against Canada, Ontario Premier Doug Ford spoke with Secretary Lutnick to convey that he is backing down on implementing a 25 percent charge on electricity exports to the United States,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said on March 11.
“President Trump has once again used the leverage of the American economy, which is the best and biggest in the world, to deliver a win for the American people.”
The announcement comes after Ford said earlier on March 11 that he will suspend the export tax on energy following his conversation with Lutnick and their plan to meet and discuss the successor to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) later this week.
“Secretary Lutnick has sent out an olive branch to us, to come down and immediately meet with him,” Ford said during a press conference in Toronto on March 11. “We’re going to be talking about the USMCA moving forward.”
Ford had gone ahead with imposing a 25 percent export tax on electricity his province provides to New York, Michigan, and Minnesota on March 10. The Ontario surcharge was put in place in response to the tariffs the U.S. president has enacted on Canadian products, Ford said.
In February, the Trump administration announced 25 percent tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from all countries effective March 12. Trump said earlier on March 11 that in response to Ontario’s energy surcharge, he was going to double that rate to 50 percent in the case of Canada.
Ford and Lutnick said later in a joint statement that they had a “a productive conversation about the economic relationship” between the two countries and agreed to meet in Washington along with federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc on March 13 to discuss the USMCA.
With the latest tariff hike on Canada suspended by Trump, Canadian steel and aluminum imports to the United States will be subject to 25 percent levies, the same as other countries.
