Ontario’s Ford suspends U.S. electric surcharge, says Lutnick agrees to trade talks

Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Tuesday said he was temporarily suspending his province’s planned 25% surcharge on electricity exported to the United States after U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick agreed to renewed trade talks.

Ford said that he and Lutnick “had a productive conversation about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada” earlier Tuesday.

“We have both agreed, let cooler heads prevail,” Ford told reporters, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump escalated an already hot trade war by saying he would raise tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports to 50%.

Trump announced those heightened tariffs on the heels of Ford saying that he would impose the surcharge on electricity imports to Michigan, New York, and Minnesota.

Ford on Tuesday said Lutnick agreed to meet with him and the U.S. trade representative in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to discuss a renewed United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

Trump has said he will impose tariffs of 25% on goods imported from Canada beginning April 2.

But at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, Trump said that he would “probably” lower tariffs on Canada.

“I’ll let you know” if the 50% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports are going into effect, he said.