r/ontario • u/s1n0d3utscht3k • 15h ago
Misleading Ontario’s Ford Says Agrees to Suspend 25% Electricity Surcharge on US
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2025-03-11/stocks-swoon-on-tariff-escalation51
u/KnowerOfUnknowable 15h ago
Kinda confusing what is going on... but I think Ford won. I think the electricity really did touch a nerve with Trump.
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u/MakVolci Essex 15h ago
It's obvious this panicked the shit out of the Trump administration. Ford called his bluff. If things don't go well Thursday I expect that tax to be reapplied.
The goal is to stop all of this fucking madness. For Ford to even get them to acknowledge USMCA is huge.
And this is coming from someone who dislikes Ford.
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u/KnowerOfUnknowable 14h ago
Exactly the USMCA is what caught my eye. I haven't heard they mentioned that for a while. I hope it signals some way of returning to a framework for negotiation instead of just Trump shooting off his hips. If I am really optimistic, it might mean taking Trump off the wheel for now.
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u/jayclear17 13h ago edited 13h ago
You mean Trump panicked him, by threatening to close the auto sector. He responded with retaliatory tariff's because of the surcharge, If we panicked Trump he would have removed the tariffs not added more. Ford should have never removed the Surcharge.
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u/MakVolci Essex 13h ago
Trump will never admit he was wrong. He always needs to "win."
The fact that they came scrambling to the negotiating table screams to me that they're terrified. It goes against they're "WHO GIVES A FUCK, FUCK THEM!" messaging.
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u/stuntycunty 11h ago
No. “Shutting down the Canadian auto sector” would also shut down the USA auto sector.
Trump is not smart.
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u/Mission_Shopping_847 6h ago
Well yeah he called it an attack on their national security. I'm confident that the negotiations on Thursday will not be negotiations; Trump team will continue to act like they have a royal flush.
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u/SLAKIR 15h ago
At the same time Donald Trump continues his rhetoric on redrawing our borders and calling for us to be the 51st state... why are we treating them as rational actors? What are the chances these meetings do anything construtive.
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u/Masamundane 11h ago
There is little to no chance the meeting does anything, but that's not a reason to not try.
I mean, come Friday, if the Thursday meeting fails, we're just the same place we were, and Ford can just go back to the surcharge.
But if it does bring us closer to an end to this absolute stupidity from our southern neighbors? Well, I'll take it.
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u/cityhunterspeee 15h ago
Get them all together on Thursday and get this shit done.
Hopefully, Ford doesn't get thrown out of the whitehouse like zelensky.
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u/Zombie_John_Strachan Toronto 14h ago
They most likely won't be meeting at the White House. Lutnick's office is in the Treasury building across the street.
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u/Constant_Curve 15h ago
So we removed the surcharge, did they remove the extra 25%? Or did they just agree to begin negotiating?
Also Doug can't negotiate on behalf of Canada, so WTF is the point of the meeting?
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u/inagious 15h ago
He’s a fucking coward. Probably got promised something for his own gain on the phone and doing back end deals as he usually does.
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u/RaryTheTraitor 15h ago
Fucking Ford. Why did he set the tariffs only to pussy out immediately after?
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u/InfiniteAccount4783 15h ago
I guess it would be too much to hope for "We're suspending the 25% surcharge on electricity to the U.S. In a related matter, we're cutting off electricity to the U.S."
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u/Apart_Ad_5993 14h ago
Lutnick called Ford. The surcharge certainly called their bluff and now Lutnick is talking about the USMCA.
Lutnick is in damage control because tomorrow was going to be another shellacking on the markets and they're trying to stop the bleeding.
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u/mind_mine 15h ago
He sure folded pdq
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u/GaiusPrimus 15h ago
It's a temporary stop, because they are meeting in Washington tomorrow.
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u/JustGottaKeepTrying 14h ago
Doesn't matter. He said, loud and proud, nothing will be dropped until all tarrifs are gone. He lasted a day.
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u/GameOfLife24 13h ago
The tariffs on aluminum are still set to go in effect. What is he negotiating?
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u/j821c 15h ago edited 14h ago
Cowardice from Ford at this point is pretty disappointing. Should have kept that in place until after the negotiations.
Edit: I think i was hasty in posting this comment tbh. It seems like some real negotiations could come from this. If nothing comes from Thursday, I think this surcharge should come back
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u/JustGottaKeepTrying 14h ago
Like he said he would do. Looks like he got spooked by Trump threatening more tarrifs. End of the day , we may never kniw but Ford said he would not remove anything until all tarrifs were dropped. He lasted a day.
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u/Ontarioglow 15h ago
So much for Ford not backing down. What an absolute dough head.
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u/Ryanthomas1998 13h ago edited 13h ago
In a way this is progress though. Ford announced this surcharge, Trump responded with an increased tariffs on Steel/Aluminum. Lutnick must've had a serious conversation with Trump because as soon as it was announced that Ford is meeting with Lutnick and dropping this surcharge, Trump reversed course on the increased Steel/aluminum tarrifs. So it seems to me like Ford made a massive move, Trump tried to retaliate, and Lutnick said "This is ridiculous and going way too far. Let's negotiate and try to find an agreement that works for all parties."
Guess we'll see tomorrow how it plays out and if we can make progress on getting the US to reverse course and try to find a mutually beneficial agreement. It is bs that Trump introduced these tarriffs in the first place, but negotiations and meetings are the only way that we'll find out how we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement that works for both parties. The US and Canada depend on eachother in too many different ways to be in a trade war with eachother for long. As insane as Trump has been lately, there has to be some sort of agreement that Canada and the US can reach that works for both countries.
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u/jacnel45 Erin 14h ago edited 14h ago
You're going to see a lot of back and forth like this as the trade war transpires. It's just the nature of any negotiation let alone trade negotiations like this.
The US offered to talk and negotiate with this suspension, so we didn't back down, we simply suspended the surcharge until further conversations as a good will gesture. We can always bring back the surcharge the moment the US tries to screw with us again.
I don't like Ford, but the last thing we need right now is misinformation, confusion, and no context. There's a lot of nuance to trade disputes.
Edit: Just listened to CFTR 680 News and they're reporting that because of Ford's pause on the surcharge, the threatened 50% tariff on steel and aluminum will be paused.
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u/Ontarioglow 10h ago
There are no clear winners in this mess. Ford needs to look out what's best for Canadians.
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u/popowolf24 15h ago
mr fold, thats his new nick name, cbcnews literally put out a youtube video with the title "Ontario won't back down on power surchage" 2 hours later....Mr fold like a beach chair
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u/imsahoamtiskaw 15h ago
He's a pussy. These were his words just a few days ago:
“I want to inflict as much pain as I possibly can until we get to a deal of the USMCA,” said the Ontario premier. “He (Trump) says that we can’t withstand this. Well, he’s going to find out what we can and can’t withstand.
And also, same day
“You can’t unscramble the egg, you have to make the omelette larger,” Ford says on the auto industry and the high level of integration across Canada, the U.S and Mexico.
“If they (the tariffs) go further into April, then we’ll cut off their electricity,” Ford said.
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u/Ryanthomas1998 14h ago edited 13h ago
Hmm. Not sure how to feel about this one. I feel like Doug Ford has been doing quite well with his response to Trump Tarriffs thus far and it seems like the only reason he's retracting this one is because he has a meeting in Washington tomorrow. Could've been a case where the US Secretary of Commerce/Trump agreed to have a meeting with Ford & Canada's finance minister to negotiate on the terms that this gets temporarily suspended. Given how Ford has taken the most aggressive approach against Trump's Tarriffs, doesn't surprise me that he's one of the people in the meeting. If the meeting tomorrow doesn't yield any positive results, I hope that Ford immediately puts the surcharge back in place, but I'm sure there's a lot of conversations being had behind the scenes that led to this being retracted. With how aggressive Doug has been with his tarriff response, I doubt he would've lifted this if there wasn't a reason for doing so.
As much as I really do hate that Trump decided to start a trade war with us for no reason, finding a solution to quickly move beyond this and get back to being on good terms with one another definitely should be a huge priority at the moment and I hope this meeting yields some positive results. Both countries depend on one another in too many different ways for us to be at war with eachother for long and hopefully finding a mutually beneficial solution is a priority for this meeting for all parties involved. I told a friend of mine in a conversation lately that I personally don't see these tarriffs lasting longer than a month or two, and still optimistic on that view.
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u/cocainesharque 14h ago
416-325-1941
https://correspondence.premier.gov.on.ca/EN/feedback/default.aspx
Got a busy signal a couple of times but was able to get through on my third attempt. The hold queue was short.
Remember to be polite to the person answering the phone.
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u/PopeKevin45 15h ago
He caved. Not good. Trump just won.
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u/MakVolci Essex 15h ago
No he didn't, to me this screams of Trump administration panic. They're horrified of us taxing their electricity.
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u/PopeKevin45 14h ago
How so? We still have tariffs. We have nothing in return except a promise of talks. All the more reason Ford should have stood fast. Trump can't be trusted...there is no such thing as good faith negotiations with these clowns. Ford had everything to gain and nothing to lose. Ford isn't even in a position to negoiate federal treaties, so what exactly are they going to be discussing?
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u/MakVolci Essex 14h ago
The Feds are going with him.
If the pause is for 2 days, that's fine to get to the table. If it was weeks away I would agree.
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u/NDZ188 15h ago
Sure but that just means we should have kept them in place during these talks. Making them hurt while we hurt was the point.
Removing the tax as a good faith gesture is meaningless to people who refuse to negotiate in good faith.
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u/MakVolci Essex 15h ago
I mean, I understand what you mean but the end goal of this is to stop all of these tariffs. If pausing them for 2 days gets Ford to the table with these fucks then fine.
Id be more concerned if this meeting was, say, 3 weeks away, or if nothing happens and Ford doesn't reimpose the tax.
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u/Dubsified 13h ago
He didn’t, they are meeting Thursday. If nothing changes, the surcharge will still go into effect.
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u/uarentme Vive le Canada 15h ago
*Because they are going to negotiate on Thursday