CNN WIRE

By Max Saltman, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump may have delayed most – though not all – of the tariffs he had imposed on Canada and Mexico, but that hasn’t stopped America’s northern neighbors from responding forcefully in retaliation.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford warned that he will turn off electricity to the U.S. if the United States adds new tariffs on Canadian goods.

“If the United States escalates, I will not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely,” Ford told reporters. “Believe me when I say I do not want to do this, I feel terrible for the American people, because it’s not the American people who started this trade war. It’s one person who’s responsible. That’s President Trump.”

Ford on Monday said the 25% surcharge Ontario imposed on electricity on Monday “will cost families and businesses” in New York, Minnesota and Michigan and add around “$100 per month to the bills of hardworking Americans.”

But it would also hurt Canada’s energy industry, in turn. Canada, which is far more dependent on US exports than America is on Canadian goods, risks plunging into a recession if the trade war escalates. As the saying goes: no one wins in a trade war.

Along with his threat to cut electricity off completely, Ford said he may raise the 25% surcharge if US tariffs escalate. Trump has threatened to do just that: On Friday, he said he would levy dairy and lumber tariffs on Canada, matching dollar-for-dollar the duties Canada places on US goods. And Trump on Sunday said tariffs on Canada and Mexico could rise from the threatened 25% level if the countries don’t make good on their promises to help reduce the amount of fentanyl crossing over the boarder into America.

Last week, the Ontario premier claimed he would shut off power to the US “with a smile on [his] face” if Trump continued to levy tariffs on Canadian exports.

The scion of a prominent political family in Ontario, Ford has made numerous appearances on US cable news in recent weeks touting his aggressive responses to Trump’s tariffs.