Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his province would pause its retaliatory measures this week after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 30-day pause on his planned tariffs targeting Canada.
In a post on X Monday afternoon, Mr. Ford confirmed that Canada would hold off on its own retaliatory economic policies, but said Ontario would not “hesitate to remove American products off [liquor store] shelves or ban American companies from provincial procurement.”
“Whether it’s tomorrow, in a month or a year from now when we’re renegotiating the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, President Trump will continue to use the threat of tariffs to get what he wants. We’re already feeling the impact,” Mr. Ford wrote. “So long as our trading relationship with our largest trading partner is up in the air, we will continue to see many potential projects frozen and projects that were already underway put at risk.”
Mr. Ford also called on U.S. leadership to focus on the real challenge in the ongoing trade war: China.
“Canada and the U.S. need to remain united and focused on the real trade war we’re fighting, with China. If we want to win, we need to fight together — not each other,” Mr. Ford wrote.
The pause comes less than a day after the Ontario premier announced a ban on provincial contracts for U.S. companies in retaliation for Mr. Trump’s tariffs. He also announced that Ontario would be “ripping up” its $68.5 million contract with Starlink, owned by billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk.
Mr. Ford announced the ban in an X post on Monday, writing that U.S. leaders have only the White House to blame.
“U.S.-based businesses will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues. They only have President Trump to blame,” Mr. Ford wrote. “We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy.”
As of Tuesday, there was no update on the contract with Starlink.
On Monday, Mr. Trump backed off plans for immediate tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico after reaching an agreement with the leaders of both nations on support for border security. Mr. Trump had announced 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, along with an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods.
The Chinese tariffs went into effect and Beijing on Tuesday responded with raft of retaliatory duties on American energy, agricultural and other exports.
The deal between Starlink and Ontario, signed in November 2024, was worth around $68 million. Starlink’s satellite services would have provided high-speed internet access to more than 15,000 homes in the province and helped bring reliable internet services to rural Ontario communities in the north, backers said.
Starlink was one of only two companies that competed for the provincial contract last year, along with Xplore Inc. It is unclear if Ontario will restart contract negotiations with Xplore Inc.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.