Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday that if there is a recession ‘there’s one person to be blamed, and that’s President [Donald] Trump.”
“If we go into a recession, it will be called the Trump recession” Ford said in an interview with CNBC’s “Money Movers,” shortly after the U.S. president said that he would raise tariffs on imports of Canadian steel and aluminum to 50%.
Trump said he was hiking those tariffs in retaliation for Ford’s Ontario province imposing a 25% surcharge on electricity exported to the United States, which will affect about 1.5 million customers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 500 points on Tuesday on the heels of Trump’s announcement.
Ford told CNBC that he would not “hesitate” to shut off electricity exports if Trump continues the trade war.
“That’s the last thing I want to do,” Ford said. “I want to send more electricity down to the US, to our closest allies or our best neighbors in the world. I want to send more electricity.”
But Ford added, “Is it a tool in our tool kit? One hundred percent, and as he continues to hurt Canadian families, Ontario families, I won’t hesitate to do that. That’s the last thing I want to do.”
Ford called on Trump to eliminate tariffs he has imposed on Canada since re-entering the White House on Jan. 20.
“All he’s doing is hurting the markets as you can see,” Ford said. “Markets are tumbling, consumer confidence is down, inflation is going up, and if it continues plants will close down, assembly lines will shut down, and over what?”
“President Trump did an unprovoked attack on our country, and that’s unacceptable,” Ford said. “This chaos has to stop”
Trump in a Truth Social post responding to Ford’s threat of cutting off electricity exports, writing, “Why would our Country allow another Country to supply us with electricity, even for a small area?
“Who made these decisions, and why? And can you imagine Canada stooping so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the life of innocent people, as a bargaining chip and threat?” Trump wrote. “They will pay a financial price for this so big that it will be read about in History Books for many years to come!”
A senior Trump administration official told CNBC’s Megan Casella that the president has not yet signed paperwork to lift tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to double the 25% original level.
The official said Trump wants to “lay down the gauntlet” to Canada with the higher tariffs.
