In response to President Trump's tariffs, Ontario's leadership is implementing a surcharge on electricity exports to New York.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Ontario's leadership is moving forward with an additional surcharge for
00:04electricity that they export to New York. This is all in response to tariffs
00:09implemented by President Trump. For more on this we're joined live by CBS News
00:12senior White House and political correspondent Ed O'Keefe in Toronto. Ed,
00:16you spoke with Ontario Premier Doug Ford this week. He says he had no choice on
00:21these tariffs. That's right, Ontario of course big neighbor to the north and
00:30happens to send electricity into New York, Michigan, and Minnesota. He says
00:33this past week he called the governors of those states to warn them a tariff
00:37goes into effect on Monday unless President Trump completely stops this
00:42trade war. Take a listen. The last thing I want to do is turn out the lights. I'll
00:46put a tariff, but let's let's straighten this out. And the American homeowner in
00:53Minnesota or New York or somewhere else that gets its power from electricity.
00:57Yes. They're gonna see the electric bill in a month and they're gonna realize whoa
01:00yes a lot more expensive than it was. That's correct.
01:08What he's gonna tell him is it's President Trump's fault and that he's
01:11sorry that that they may be feeling the pain but if you have any concerns about
01:16that you should be calling your governor, he said, your representatives
01:19in Congress to tell the White House to back off. You know Ed, I know that you're
01:23there in Toronto. You obviously spoke to the Premier. I'm curious if you've been
01:27speaking to Canadians and what their opinions are about what's going on. To a
01:34person, Christine, it's quite striking. They are angry about this. They're
01:38shocked, confused. A few people nearly broke into tears talking about it.
01:42They're just so disappointed and in some cases really scared about the
01:46possibility that this is gonna wreak economic pain on both countries. And then
01:50there's the president's talk about making Canada a 51st state. This country
01:54for the most part laughed it off in the beginning but given how much he keeps
01:57talking about it and given that he got so close to launching this tariff war
02:00which may start again now next month instead, they say who are we to not
02:05believe that perhaps he really is serious about trying to annex Canada and
02:09make it part of the United States. They say if it comes to that they're ready to
02:13fight. These are words, these are feelings, Christine, that I don't think
02:16any New Yorker, someone who grew up upstate, or any other American really
02:21would ever think Canadians would feel. And they make clear it's nothing
02:25personal towards Americans. It's all about the American president and the
02:29policy he's putting in place. Yeah, it is unusual for Canadians to feel this way
02:34or to show any anger. They're always so friendly and we've lived so seamlessly
02:39with each other for so much time. Ed O'Keefe, we're glad you're there in
02:43Toronto and we thank you for joining us here for our broadcast. Ed O'Keefe, we'll
02:47see you later on the CBS Evening News. A lot of tensions with our neighbors to
02:51the north and it's all about the bottom line. For the latest on tariffs and
02:54President Trump's first 100 days in office, head over to CBSNewYork.com.