(NewsNation) — Ontario Premier Doug Ford has threatened to cut off electricity exports to the United States following President Donald Trump’s newest tariffs.
The move places a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, as well as an additional 20% tariff on all imports from China. Energy resources from Canada will have a lower, 10% tariff.
“It’s absolute chaos right now,” Ford said Tuesday during an appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill.” “Trump ran on creating more jobs, lowering inflation. This has totally backfired. Inflation’s gonna hit the American people and Canadians… This is all unnecessary.”
There are a combined 380 million people in Canada and the U.S. who could face higher prices or power cuts if the trade war continues.
‘Canadians love Americans’: Doug Ford
Ford apologized to the American people, insisting, “We never started this.”
“I’ve talked to endless Americans… Canadians love Americans. They love the U.S. They look at Americans as part of the family, and so do I. And this is totally unnecessary,” Ford added, placing blame on Trump as the party responsible.
Ford said cutting off electricity is the “last step he wants to take.”
“I do not want to do this to the Americans, but we have to retaliate when our country, our sovereignty, is at risk right now,” Ford added. “I will do everything and use every tool in our tool kit to make sure we come to a resolution.”
Who will be affected by a Canadian energy cut?
Multiple regions of the U.S. will feel the heat — or lack thereof — if Canada decides to stop exporting energy.
Oil refineries in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions rely on Canadian oil to make gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. In 2023, the U.S. imported 1.4 million barrels of Canadian crude oil daily — more than half its daily import of 2.4 million.
America’s northern border has more than 35 major electricity transmission lines and 70 oil and gas pipelines, connecting the U.S. and Canada in the “closest energy relationship in the world,” per the embassy of Canada’s official website.
How much does the US rely on Canadian electricity?
In some way or another, all 50 states in the U.S. receive energy or benefit from the energy relationship with Canada.
“The energy relationship between the two countries extends beyond just the trade of commodities, encompassing a variety of common, though not always identical, economic, security, and environmental priorities,” according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In 2024, Canada supplied 62% of American crude oil imports. Other energy exports from Canada include:
- Hydroelectric power
- Natural gas
- Other fossil fuels
In New England, states like Maine, which are “secluded from other regional energy infrastructure,” could face electricity cost hikes of up to $200 million per state, Heatmap News reports.
The state of Vermont has partnered with Hydro-Québec to have the Canadian company provide 25% of the state’s annual energy needs through 2038. Similarly, New York has a deal for megawatt importation through 2030.
Both deals could easily fall apart if Ford’s threats come to fruition, leaving much of the northeast scrambling for a new source.
NewsNation’s Anna Kutz contributed to this report.