Ontario will keep U.S. booze off LCBO shelves and go ahead with energy export tax despite one-month pause on tariffs

Ontario Premier Doug Ford spoke on CNN saying the province will place a 25 per cent tariff on electricity it provides to the U.S. as of Monday.

A spokesperson for Ontario Premier Doug Ford confirms that U.S. alcohol products will not be returning to LCBO store shelves following President Donald Trump’s decision to grant Canada and Mexico a one-month reprieve on tariffs going into effect.

“American products are staying off shelves. He needs to drop tariffs entirely,” Ivana Yelich said.

Ontario will also go ahead with a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity it sends to the U.S. starting Monday.

This is a breaking news story. Previous version follows below.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says that the province will place a 25 per cent tariff on the electricity that it provides to 1.5 million homes and businesses in New York, Michigan and Minnesota as of Monday and could double the surcharge if the U.S. escalates its trade war with Canada.

Ford made the threat for the first time on Tuesday but had not previously said when the tax would actually go into effect.

• LIVE UPDATES: The latest developments in the trade war

On Thursday he confirmed the implementation date in separate interviews with CNN and Newstalk 1010.

His comments came after U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC that all goods and services that are compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) could be granted a one-month exemption on the 25 per cent tariff that went into effect earlier this week.

President Donald Trump later announced on social media that he would delay the implementation of tariffs on goods from Mexico until April 2 but made no mention of Canada.

“Unfortunately, President Trump has attacked our country and attacked our province economically so as of Monday we are putting a 25 per cent export tax, surcharge, whatever you want to call it. They are going to be paying 25 per cent more on their electricity in Minnesota, Michigan and New York and if it continues, the attack, I will up it to 50 per cent,” Ford told Newstalk 1010.

Ford sent a letter to the senators, congressmen, congresswomen and governors of New York, Michigan and Minnesota on Tuesday to inform them about the province’s plan to implement the surcharge on electricity.

However, he did not previously provide a date for when the tax would go into effect.

A spokesperson for the premier’s office did confirm with CTV News Toronto that the tax would go into effect on Monday but refused to provide any specifics beyond the start date.

The spokesperson also refused to confirm under what circumstances Ontario would double the tax on electricity exports, though when asked Ford mentioned the April 2 date Trump has set to roll out additional ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on trading partners.

“April 2. That is kind of the date that President Trump has put out there. Hopefully he will come to a reality by then. Businesses are hurting in both countries,” Ford said.

Ontario has taken a number of retaliatory actions since the tariffs went into effect earlier this week, including removing all U.S. alcohol from LCBO shelves, ripping up a $100 million contract with Starlink’s Elon Musk and barring U.S. companies from entering into procurement contracts with the provincial government and its agencies.

Ford has also previously threatened to cut off electricity exports to the U.S. entirely should President Donald Trump implement additional tariffs on Canadian goods.

Speaking with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday, Ford was asked whether a potential one-month pause on the tariff would “ease” any of his concerns but seemed to reject that.

His comments came after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that Canada would be in a trade war “for the foreseeable future.”

“What a mess President Trump has created here. The only thing certain in these 30 days is uncertainty,” Ford said of any pause. “We have seen investments stall in the U.S., people are going to lose their jobs. Inflation is happening, everything is going to go up and assembly lines are going to shut down if this continues.”