Ontario Premier Doug Ford sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney on August 17, 2026, urging Ottawa to weaponize electricity exports and critical mineral supply chains as leverage against newly imposed US tariffs. The tariffs, carrying a 50% duty on roughly $28 billion worth of Canadian goods, took effect on August 21, sending trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa into collapse. Carney pledged dollar-for-dollar retaliation, while Ford specifically identified nickel and cobalt as strategic assets Canada should be willing to restrict. Ontario supplies clean hydroelectric power to several US states through an integrated cross-border grid, including Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Any restriction of Canadian minerals would ripple through EV manufacturers, battery producers, and defense contractors who source raw materials from north of the border.
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