Ontario surcharge on energy sent to U.S. still suspended after ‘productive’ meeting

A surcharge on energy exported from Ontario into the United States will continue to be suspended, according to the premier’s office, after a high-stakes meeting with President Donald Trump’s commerce secretary.

Premier Doug Ford’s team confirmed Thursday afternoon the short-lived energy surcharge would not be reintroduced after a sit-down with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, which Ford described as “the best meeting I’ve ever had” in Washington.

Despite the premier’s glowing appraisal of the talks, the United States has not offered any tariff exemptions or carveouts for either Canada or Ontario as a result of the discussions.

Ford had previously said he would only drop Ontario tariff retaliation measures like the energy surcharge when there were “zero tariffs” on Canadian goods being imported to the United States.

Thursday’s discussions capped off a dramatic week in which Ford finally caught the attention of President Trump with a 25 per cent charge on all electricity sold from his province to New York, Minnesota and Michigan.

Trump noticed the charge and threatened to pound Canada with economic measures in response,  starting by doubling a tariff on steel and aluminum to 50 per cent. Hours later, Ford said the energy surcharge would be paused after a meeting with Lutnick was arranged,.

Ford said the meeting and a call with Lutnick were an “olive branch” from the White House. Trump also dropped his retaliatory tariff but did not exempt Canada or Ontario from 25 per cent global steel and aluminum tariffs.

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Ford pointed out that Lutnick had called him to discuss the surcharge and said not pausing the measure for talks would be the “worst thing” he could do in a negotiation.

Trump and Lutnick both characterized it as an embarrassing climbdown, calling the surcharge Ontario’s “little threat” and saying Ford was forced to back off within hours. “He knows he made a mistake and he withdrew it,” Lutnick said of Ford in one media interview.

Before the meeting took place, those close to Ford acknowledged heading down to Washington D.C. was “taking a chance” as the president took potshots at Canada and Ontario in the media.

When he emerged from his meeting in Washington on Thursday afternoon, Ford hailed it as a success, although he acknowledged he had not managed to change the U.S. position on tariffs.

“I just want to thank the secretary for the opportunity to go in there and stay this long and communicate,” Ford said.

“We shared a tremendous amount of views back and forth and I’m feeling very positive… this I can honestly say was the best meeting I’ve ever had coming down here.”

Federal ministers Dominic LeBlanc and François-Philippe Champagne also attended the meeting, along with the Canadian ambassador to the United States.

As a result of that sit-down, Ford’s team said the energy surcharge which sparked tensions at the start of the week would not be reintroduced.

“Given today’s productive discussion and next week’s meeting to continue talking, surcharge will remain on pause,” the premier’s office said in a statement to Global News.

What happens next is unclear. Ford hinted another meeting would take place but his team have said the next round of discussions will involve officials in Ontario, Canada and the United States, not the premier.

Ford’s spokesperson also clarified that the premier and commerce secretary had “set the priorities” and it was not “over to the officials” to move forward.

While Ford described how well the meeting had gone in his view, he admitted nothing had changed on the tariff front.

“We’re having very productive conversations — it turned out very, very well,” Ford said. “It was very, very good. Very, very civil.”

The decision to pause the energy surcharge while U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum remain in place marks a change of stance for the premier. Previously Ford had he would not remove any of his retaliatory measures until there were “zero tariffs” from the U.S.

“President Trump’s tariffs are a disaster for the U.S. economy. They’re making life more expensive for American families and businesses,” Ford said on Monday when he introduced the short-lived charge.

“Until the threat of tariffs is gone for good, Ontario won’t back down. We’ll stand strong, use every tool in our toolkit and do whatever it takes to protect Ontario.”

Other tariff response measures in Ontario, like a ban on U.S. companies bidding for public contracts and a prohibition on U.S. alcohol, are still in place.

It’s unclear how long the energy charge could remain paused or the metrics Ontario is using to evaluate success in its negotiations.

A senior government source previously said the surcharge would be paused if the meeting led to tariff removal — or if they believed the conversations that took place during it would provide a route to achieving that.

Trump has promised the next round of tariffs to hit on April 2, including across Canadian industries.

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