HAMILTON, Canada
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Tuesday that he is "temporarily" suspending a 25% surcharge on electricity the province provides to the US states of New York, Minnesota and Michigan.
"I had an opportunity to speak to (Commerce) Secretary (Howard) Lutnick," Ford told reporters during a news conference, saying that Lutnick "sent out an olive branch" to Canada to "immediately meet with him."
Ford announced that he agreed with Lutnick to "suspend temporarily" the 25% surcharge on electricity export but reaffirmed that "we always have that tool in our tool kit until we sit down."
He said Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc will also be joining him when he meets Lutnick in the coming days in the US, and described Lutnick's invite as the "right decision."
"They understand how serious we are about the electricity and the tariffs, and rather than going back and forth and having threats to each other, we have both agreed that cooler heads prevail," he said.
Ford said LeBlanc assured that Canada "will respond dollar for dollar, tariff for tariff" if US President Donald Trump continues with a tariff threat.
Ford announced the 25% surcharge Monday on exports to US states, including Michigan and New York, as part of ongoing trade tensions.
In response, Trump announced an additional 25% increase Tuesday in tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, to 50% in total, and warned of a "National Emergency" on electricity imports.
Trump again reiterated his idea of merging Canada with the US, arguing that "the only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State," saying that it would eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers.