Trump threatens new tariffs on Canada and warns he will shut down its auto industry | Money [Video]

(CNN) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened a sharp escalation in the budding trade war with Canada in retaliation for Ontario’s export surcharge on US electricity.

Trump said he would respond in kind to Ontario’s 25% surcharge on electricity to New York, Minnesota and Michigan with a 25% tariff on Canadian electricity. That could increase costs even more for Americans, particularly in northern states that rely on energy from Canada. Ontario’s surcharge, announced Monday, threatens to increase bills by $100 a month, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said.

In addition, Trump said he would levy even larger tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum than he had planned Wednesday.

“Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on ‘Electricity’ coming into the United States, I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to ad an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD,” Trump said in a social media post Tuesday.

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