(Center of the American Experiment) — The Province of Ontario wages a trade war against Minnesota, but without any ammunition.
The putatively Conservative premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, launched a trade war of his own against Donald Trump, threatening to impose a 25 percent tariff on electricity sales to the U.S. states of Minnesota, Michigan and New York, if not cut off sales outright.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appeared to egg him on, posting on Twitter (X):
The first victims of Trump’s trade war? Minnesotans struggling to pay their skyrocketing electric bill.
Minnesota cannot afford Trump’s billionaire-run economy. We have to put a stop to this madness. https://t.co/g2Dq3MHzjv
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) March 10, 2025
Walz cites as a source for his doom-mongering a report in the Star Tribune. On Monday, the outlet reported something close to the opposite:
“The state’s biggest utilities and the regional grid operator say they use very little power from Ontario, which imposed the charge in response to President Donald Trump’s trade war.”
How little? The Star Tribune adds:
“Less than 1% of MISO’s total energy in 2024 came from Canada. MISO spokesman Brandon Morris said less than half of that came from Ontario, which is not a member of the regional grid but sends power to it.”
As I’ve mentioned many times, the local power pool (MISO) extends from Hudson Bay and the Canadian province of Manitoba south to Louisiana and the Gulf of America. It does not include Ontario.
Now media reports indicate that the whole thing may have been called off. CNBC:
“Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he was temporarily suspending his province’s planned 25% surcharge on electricity exported to the United States.”
“Planned”? It sounds like the thing never went into effect.
But Gov. Walz is correct about one thing: Minnesota electricity prices are skyrocketing, and that’s 100 percent the fault of his disastrous renewable energy policies.
Originally published by the Center of the American Experiment
Bill Glahn
Bill Glahn is an Adjunct Policy Fellow with Center of the American Experiment.
