Canada’s most populous province and its commercial nerve centre, Ontario, has announced a ban on United States’ companies bidding for government contracts and dumped a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink in a pushback to US tariffs.
“Ontario won’t do business with people hell-bent on destroying our economy,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on X on Monday.
“US-based businesses will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues. They only have President Trump to blame.”
Ford said he was “ripping up” a Can$100 million (US$68 million) contract with Starlink, signed in November to provide internet services to 15,000 homes and businesses in remote northern parts of Ontario.
Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites were to start beaming internet services to northern Ontario starting in June after the Trump loyalist vowed to slap 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports starting on Tuesday.
Ontario’s liquor stores also started pulling US beer, wine and spirits off shelves on Monday.
Several other Canadian provinces including Quebec, Nova Scotia and British Columbia were doing the same.
The government-run Liquor Control Board of Ontario is one of the world’s largest single buyers of alcohol, supplying its stores as well as local restaurants, bars and other retailers in the province.
It sells almost Can$1 billion worth of US alcohol, or about 3,600 products, each year.
Trump spoke earlier Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the tariffs and said in a post on his Truth Social platform they would speak again later in the day.
