Donald Trump declares National Emergency on electricity post Ontario’s 25% surcharge on US exports

US President Donald Trump has announced plans to declare a 'National Emergency on Electricity' in response to Ontario's imposition of a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity exports to the United States, amid threats to halt exports entirely. US President's move is part of an escalating trade dispute between Canada and US, with Donald Trump vowing to impose retaliatory measures.

The emergency declaration will allow the US to alleviate the "abusive threat" from losing electricity imports from Canada, Donald Trump wrote in a post on social media.

US President Trump said in response to the surcharge imposed by Ontario, he would double existing tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, and warned Canada that it would pay a high cost if Ontario cuts off the flow of electricity to the US.

"Can you imagine Canada stooping so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the life of innocent people, as a bargaining chip and threat?" Trump wrote. “They will pay a financial price for this so big that it will be read about in History Books for many years to come!”

On Monday, Ontario put a 25 per cent fee on its electricity exports to New York, Michigan and Minnesota in response to Donald Trump's 25 per cent tariffs on Canada.

Ontario premier Doug Ford said he was applying "maximum pressure" on the US over its tariff war, and threatened to cut off exports entirely if Donald Trump increased tariffs further.

Ontario remains the largest exporter of electricity to the US in 2023, sending 15.2 TWh to the US.

Notably, Donald Trump already declared a national energy emergency on 20 January, unlocking emergency authorities to fast-track permitting and seek to retain production of baseload power plants.

President Trump has yet to offer more details on the electricity emergency, but the US Department of Energy (DOE) can issue emergency orders that would allow power plants to run at maximum capacity or waive some environmental regulations.

Donald Trump reverses tariffs on steel within hours

US President Donald Trump announced doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminium from Canada to 50%. Soon, Canada imposed a 25% surcharge on electricity it supplies to a region in US.

Soon, by Tuesday afternoon, Trump made a U-turn and called off the imposition of 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada, just hours after announcing the higher tariffs. 

The switch came after a Canadian official also backed off his own plans for a 25% surcharge on electricity, reported Reuters.