It’s a little-known fact that we Americans get quite a bit of our electricity from Canada. Unfortunately, our friendly neighbors to the north are currently considering turning off the electrical flow if a certain incoming President goes through with his plan to impose major tariffs on their country.
The not-so-friendly proposal was offered this week by Doug Ford, the premier for Ontario, which is Canada’s second-largest province. Ford, who revealed the information Wednesday during a conversation with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, said he would restrict electricity exports to Michigan, New York and Minnesota, should Donald Trump make good on his threat to impose tariffs on Canada.
Per the Associated Press: “It’s a last resort,” Ford said. “I don’t think President-elect Trump wants that to happen. We’re sending a message to the U.S. If you come and attack Ontario, you attack the livelihoods of people in Ontario and Canadians, we are going to use every tool in our tool box to defend Ontarians and Canadians. Let’s hope it never comes to that.”
Ford also claimed he was considering limiting the export of certain minerals that are vital to the manufacturing of electric car batteries. It stands to reason that both of those things could have negative impacts on EV makers in the U.S., which would be particularly bad for Trump’s political ally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Ford also mused about limiting Canadian alcohol exports to the U.S.
An analysis from the Electrical Information Administration notes that the U.S. and Canada have a deeply intertwined energy system, in which physical cables deliver power to many communities on both sides of the national border. Historically speaking, Canada has exported a lot more electricity to the U.S. than it has imported, though, in recent years, that dynamic has shifted somewhat. In 2023, the electrical sales from Canada to the U.S. represented some $3.2 billion. Ontario delivered power to some 1.5 million U.S. households last year, the Associated Press notes.
Prior to the election, a host of economists warned that if Trump went through with his plan to impose major tariffs on countries throughout the world, it would have a huge, potentially catastrophic impact on Americans’ pocketbooks. Defenders of Trump’s proposal have mostly characterized it as a “bargaining” strategy, which is designed to elicit political and economic concessions from the countries he targets. “The President, I think, will use them as bargaining chips—I think that’s important for everyone to keep in mind,” said Former National Economic Council director Larry Lindsey, in a recent conversation with Fox News. “It’s how the bargain ultimately works out in the end that’s going to determine whether it was a successful strategy,” he said.
I’m not sure how great a “bargaining” tactic it is if you openly admit that Trump has no intention of following through on his threat, but I suppose we’ll have to wait and see whether the incoming President can—like his book famously put it—cut a deal.
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