Ontario Premier Doug Ford has backed down from planned surcharges on electricity sold stateside amid threats from U.S President Donald Trump, who is retreating from his plans to double tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel.
Ford said on Tuesday that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick dropped the plan to double tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel, and has committed to lowering Trump’s tariff back down to 25 per cent.
Ford said he told Lutnick he would remove his electricity surcharge.
The Whitehouse then confirmed to CTV News that the U.S. will follow through with 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum — not 50 per cent.
“I thought this was the right decision, they understand how serious we are about the electricity and the tariffs,” Ford said.
“Rather than going back and forth and having threats towards each other, we have both agreed to let cooler heads prevail; we need to sit down and move this forward.”
Negotiations will now take place.
“As you know, there is a very strong man in Canada who was going to charge a surcharge or a tariff on electricity coming into our country,” Trump said. “He has called and said he’s not going to do that.”
“It would have been a very bad thing if he did, he’s not going to do that, so I respect that.”
On Monday, Ford had originally placed his surcharge of 25 per cent on electricity to 1.5 million homes in three U.S. states.
He also urged Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to conduct similar moves when it came to placing a tax on oil exports to America.
“One day, I think you might have to use that ‘trump card’ and give approval for an export tax,” Ford said.
“You want to talk about a trump card? That will instantly change the game. Instantly. When the Americans — and I know the Americans — all of a sudden, their gas prices go up 90 (cents) to $1 a gallon.”
Smith immediately dismissed those comments.
“Let me be clear…. Alberta will never agree to such an absurd and self-destructive idea,” Smith posted to X, formerly Twitter.
“It’s not an option. I’m not going to agree to do something that will cost hundreds of thousands of Albertans (and Canadians) their jobs almost overnight. That would be like placing export tariffs on Ontario auto parts - also a bad idea.”
Smith went on to say that there are “many effective ways” that Canada and Alberta can work together to pressure Trump to change course on tariffs, but didn’t elaborate on other potential measures.
Calgary beer company takes pro-active approach
Calgary’s Toolshed Brewing Company has taken its own proactive approach to dealing with aluminum tariffs by stockpiling aluminum cans in advance of the new tax.
“When this happened last time Trump was president, we were caught off guard, and that sucked, because of the cost of goods that goes into beer,” said founder Graham Sherman. “So this time, we bought an entire sea-can full of cans.”
“We try to buy everything in Canada, but unfortunately for aluminum cans, there’s only one size of the can that’s made in Canada – and the one we need is based in the States or other counties.”
Sherman says his team purchased 165,000 cans before the tariffs we’re imposed.
“That might seem like a lot, but it’s only enough to get us through the next six weeks, so hopefully this all blows over by then.
“Moving forward, we’re going to be using Chinese aluminum, get it shipped from there so it doesn’t touch American soil, and we’ll be completely outside of those tariffs.”
Sherman went on to say that many different businesses in Alberta are adjusting to the uncertainty, but that the awareness from provincial leaders to make changes will help in the long run.
“We think this could be the greatest thing ever for Canada, I think that finally, our premiers are looking at breaking down interprovincial barriers, and that’s been something we’ve wanted for so long,” he said.
“One of the biggest distributors of alcohol in the world is the LCBO. I mean, Ontario sells more liquor than anyone else, and we have challenges getting our beer for sale in another province in our own country, so it’s music to my ears when something like this is a catalyst.”
Smith remains diplomatic, while Trump doubles down
Political scientist Duane Bratt with Calgary’s Mount Royal University says the trade war appears to be an ongoing “tit for tat” battle, and Trump’s threat of annexing Canada remains a central narrative.
“This is hurting both countries, but Trump’s response is that we (Canada) should do nothing and that we should just allow the Americans to hit us and thank them for hitting us,” Bratt said.
“This shows in Trump’s continued annexation talks, we’re hearing he’s even privately talking about this in all sorts of agreements, so that gives you a sense of the state of play that we’re at.”
Bratt also evaluated Smith’s response to Ford.
“It’s not like Ford said to Smith, ‘Do this, but I’m not.’ What Ford said is, ‘I’m doing this, you should do it too – and Scott Moe in Saskatchewan, you should think about doing it with potash, because of American reliance on fertilizer,’” Bratt said.
“So, we are seeing some differences in how the various premiers are operating, and Ford’s point was, put a surcharge on it, put an export tax on it, before the Americans put a tariff on it.
“Smith doesn’t want to play that game.”
Bratt says Smith’s reluctance comes in her attempting to hold out for a more diplomatic situation.
“I think that’s naïve; I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said.
“But that said, the fact she is going on the Ben Shapiro show will be interesting though to see how that plays out. Shapiro has been critical of the trade war, so he agrees with Smith. He has a big audience that will help Smith try to reach Americans that maybe Trump would listen to.”
Liberal Member of Parliament for Calgary-Skyview George Chahal also took a shot at Smith Tuesday.
It’s unfortunate that our premier has gone on her own and not supported the interests of Canadians,” said Chahal.
“I think it’s unified with the stance that the Government of Canada and Premier Ford has taken. I think that is something we all should be doing as Canadians. We need to be united. We need to defend our country from coast to coast to coast, whether you’re in Ontario or whether you’re in Alberta.”
