PREMIER FORD ANNOUNCES EXPORT TAX, BUT WILL IT BE LEGAL?
On March 4, 2025, Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford announced further a retaliatory measure to the recently announced Trump tariffs, indicating that Ontario would apply a tax on exports of electricity to the United States (“US”). While that announcement might make many Ontarians (and Canadians) feel good about "taking a stance", one wonders whether Ontario has the legal powers to do what it says it is going to do.
TRUMP TARIFFS, CANADA'S COUNTERMEASURES TAKE EFFECT
The trade dispute between the United States (“US”) and Canada has now entered a new phase, as the US imposed 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods and 10 percent tariffs on Canadian energy products on March 4, 2025. Canada responded in kind and implemented the first phase of its previously announced retaliatory countermeasures through the United States Surtax Order (2025-1). The list of targetted US origin goods remains the same as the prior list, but for the addition of 14 new items under Chapters 98 and 99 of the Customs Tariff Schedule, although these new items appear to be absent from a news release published by the Department of Finance Canada.
