House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said Monday a 25% extra charge on Ontario's electricity exports to his province — announced in response to President Trump's tariffs in Canada — that it would only help the US president win support from his base.
A Minnesota Republican told News Nation's Joe Halil on Monday that the additional charges were “mistakes.”
“The more they try to torment Americans, the more they will strengthen Donald Trump,” Emmer said of Canadians. “He told everyone when he campaigned to work for the Americans.”
“What Canadians are doing is a mistake in my heart,” he continued. “I'm just helping Donald Trump in his claim that he doesn't care about you. I'm the only one.”
Ontario's government announced Monday that it will apply a 25% extra fee to begin exporting electricity to New York, Minnesota and Michigan in response to US tariffs in Canada.
The surcharge will affect the electricity sales of 1.5 million homes and businesses across the three provinces, the Ontario government said. In total, state costs up to $400,000 per day.
A statement from the Ontario Prime Minister's office has introduced new market rules that require Canadian electricity sellers to add $10 per megawatt hour extra charge, which is equivalent to the cost of selling electricity, which is equivalent to a quarter of the average electricity value.
The additional charge is a response to a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports into the United States announced by the Trump administration last week. Trump announced on various occasions and then returned tariffs, causing confusion about the scope and applicability of the order.
Following the initial announcement, Trump exempts the carmaker from tariffs and has since been delayed for a month due to goods covered by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the latest news on the North American Free Trade Agreement that Trump renegotiated during his first term.
