Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his province is “ripping up” its $68 million contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink over President Donald Trump’s looming tariffs, adding that Ontario “won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy.”
Ford made the announcement Monday as Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada are now just hours away from going into effect. The White House said it is implementing the tariffs to hold Canada accountable “to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.” Canada, meanwhile, is vowing retaliation.
“We’ll be ripping up our contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy,” Ford said, arguing that the tariffs “will hurt America and make Americans poorer.
“They will see inflation, they will see interest rates go up, they will see less money in their pockets,” he said during a speech in the Toronto area. “Now, Canada has no choice but to hit back and hit back hard.”
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Ontario signed the contract with Starlink in November in order to provide high-speed internet access to 15,000 eligible homes and businesses in rural, remote and northern Ontario by June, according to the CBC.
Starlink, which is a division of Musk-owned SpaceX, did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment by FOX Business.
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Ford added Monday, “Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts,” noting that they “will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues” and “They only have President Trump to blame.”
“There are more problems in the world than attacking your closest friend,” Ford said this morning during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.” “We are your allies, we are your friends. We need to build a strong two nations, not fight each other – it benefits China, that’s what it does.”
During his speech today outside of Toronto, Ford said, “Friends, there is no sugarcoating it, the coming days and weeks will be incredibly difficult.
“Trump’s tariffs are going to devastate our economy. These tariffs will put up to 450,000 jobs at risk from every sector and every region. No one will be immune, everyone will feel the impact,” he added.
FOX Business’ Christopher Guly contributed to this report.
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