Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, has raised the electricity rates by 25 per cent for 1.5 million Americans in response to the trade war waged by US President Donald Trump. Mr Ford also warned that he won't hesitate to impose more hikes, adding he may even "shut off electricity completely" for Americans if Trump's trade war intensifies.
"If the United States escalates, I will not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely," the Premier declared on Monday, CNN reported.
Mr Ford claimed he felt "terrible for the American people" because they were suffering due to their President's tariff war.
Despite Trump's one-month reprieve, Mr Ford stated that Ontario's tariff would stay in place, pointing out that a one-month break only created more uncertainty.
The Ontario Premier claimed that the 25 per cent tax would add around "$100 per month to the bills of hardworking Americans" and "cost families and businesses" in the three states.
Any generator supplying energy to the US must impose a 25 per cent fee under the new market regulations, Mr Ford's office said.
The government of Ontario anticipates the hiked electricity tariffs to bring in between 300,000-400,000 Canadian dollars and 400,000 a day, for the benefit of "Ontario workers, families and businesses."
This comes along with the initial CA$30 billion in retaliatory tariffs imposed by the federal government.
The CA$30 billion was imposed on imports such as American coffee, peanut butter, orange juice, appliances, footwear, cosmetics, motorcycles, and some pulp and paper goods.
Mr Ford further asserted that if Trump kept imposing tariffs on Canadian exports, he would turn off electricity to the US "with a smile on [his] face."
Ontario, the most populous province in Canada, provides electricity to New York, Michigan, and Minnesota.
Last week, Trump sparked a new trade war by enacting tariffs on Washington's top three trading partners. This sparked swift reactions from China, Canada, and Mexico and sent financial markets into a spiral.
He later announced that he had delayed the imposition of 25 per cent tariffs on a number of commodities from Canada and Mexico for a month amid growing concerns of a bigger trade war.
Canada also levied counter-tariffs on automobiles, appliances, footwear, cosmetics, coffee, orange juice, peanut butter, and some pulp and paper goods.
