U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was asked about Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s recent warning that the province could cut off energy exports to about 1.5 million Americans if Trump imposes threatened tariffs on Canada next month, saying Thursday that it was a “good thing.”
On Wednesday, after a meeting between the premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ford said he believed there was a “100 per cent” chance that the 25 per cent tariffs Trump threatened in January would be imposed on Canada. Ford responded with a threat of his own: to “cut off” millions of American residents living in the border states from Ontario’s energy exports.
“If he does that, it’s OK,” Trump told a CNBC reporter at the New York Stock Exchange. “The United States is subsidizing Canada, it’s really a subsidy and we shouldn’t be doing that.”
Trump has claimed that the United States subsidizes Canada by more than US$100 billion annually, although he did not specify the source of that figure and made similar statements in 2018.
Subsidies It is defined by the International Monetary Fund as “The transfer of resources from the government to a local entity without a matching contribution in return.”
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The IMF notes that support can “take many forms, including direct grants to local companies, tax incentives, or favorable terms for financing.”
It’s not clear whether Trump’s claims relate to a trade deficit, which is when one country buys more than it sells to another, or to direct investment as well.
the The US Trade Representative’s Office says so “The US trade deficit in goods and services with Canada reached $53.5 billion in 2022.”
Statistics Canada He says that direct investment From Canada to the United States in 2023, it reached $1.1 trillion, while direct American investment in Canada reached $618.2 billion.
“In 2023, Canadian services exports to the United States increased by 7.2% to $107.2 billion, while imports of services from the United States increased by 8.7% to $121.0 billion.” Statistics Canada said last month.
Shortly after his re-election, Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico if both countries did not address illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling into the United States.
Since then, Ford and Canada’s prime minister have held meetings with the federal government to discuss potential responses, with Trudeau sharing an “overview” Wednesday of his government’s plan to beef up border security in response to the tariff threat.
Sources outlined four potential Ford actions that Ontario could take to Global News:
- Restricting electricity exports to Michigan, New York and Minnesota – all of which share borders with Ontario
- Restricting Canadian exports of critical minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries and the supply chain
- Restricting US-based companies from the Ontario government’s procurement process
- Bans the LCBO, the world’s largest alcohol buyer, from purchasing American-made alcohol
Sources in the Ford government describe this measure as “escalation maneuvers” that are still under development.
—With files from Global News’ Colin de Mello, Isaac Callan and Sean Boynton
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