Tax on electricity that Ontario sends to U.S. takes effect today
By Chris Fox
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TORONTO (CTV Network) — A 25 per cent export tax on the electricity that Ontario sends to three U.S. states is set to take effect today, pushing up the cost of keeping the lights on for 1.5 million households and businesses south of the border.
The tax will be levied on the electricity that the province provides to New York, Michigan and Minnesota, with details on how it will be collected expected to be revealed during a news conference at Queen’s Park later this morning.
It is one of several retaliatory actions that Ontario has taken amid the ongoing trade war, including pulling U.S. booze from LCBO shelves and barring American companies from approximately $30 billion in procurement contracts.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has also threatened to double the tax to 50 per cent if U.S. President Donald Trump’s “economic attack” on Canada continues, though he has not specified under what circumstances that would be done.
“Until President Trump removes the threat of tariffs for good, we will be relentless,” Ford wrote on social media last week.
Trump implemented a sweeping 25 per cent tariff on most Canadian goods last week but days later agreed to exempt goods that fall under an existing North American free trade pact from the tariffs until April 2.
Ontario’s countermeasures, however, have remained in effect with a spokesperson for Ford’s office previously telling CP24 that they would not be rolled back until Trump drop’s threatened tariffs “entirely.”
The New York Independent System Operator, which is responsible for the electricity grid in New York, has previously warned that “The United States and Canada share one of the most integrated international electric grids in the world” and that export taxes “may have serious adverse effects on reliability and wholesale electric markets.”
Ford and Energy Minister Stephen Lecce will hold a press conference at 11 a.m., where they are likely to field questions about the export tax and the ongoing trade war.
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