By Paul Vieira

OTTAWA--The leader of Ontario, Canada's most populous province, says he's terminating a contract with Starlink, a unit of Elon Musk's SpaceX, to deliver high-speed internet to remote parts of Ontario as retribution for President Trump imposing 25% tariffs on Canadian imports.

Doug Ford, in a post on the social-media platform X Monday morning, added that Ontario would ban U.S. firms from bidding on provincial contracts so long as the tariffs, which start on Tuesday, remain in effect.

"U.S.-based businesses will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues. They only have President Trump to blame," Ford said. "Ontario won't do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy."

The deal with Starlink, agreed to in November, is valued at about 100 million Canadian dollars, or the equivalent of $68.8 million. Ford said the province annually awards about C$30 billion a year in contracts.

A spokesman for SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

This marks the latest escalation by Ontario and the country's other provinces as they, in conjunction with Canada's federal government, implement their own retaliatory measures in response to hefty tariffs from the U.S. that threaten to throw the country into a recession. Economists add that the longer the tariffs remain in place, the higher the risk Canada suffers structural, or permanent, economic damage.

Ford is seeking reelection as leader of Ontario, which has a population of 16 million and a land mass greater than that of Texas. Among Canadian political leaders, he's been the most outspoken in terms of aggressive retaliation against U.S. tariffs, and at one point suggested he was willing to cut off electricity supply from Ontario to the U.S.

The Canadian government over the weekend said it would impose 25% tariffs on about C$155 billion of U.S. imports, with a first tranche set to begin Tuesday. Among the initial U.S. imports to be targeted are fruits, vegetables, appliances, tires, motorcycles and alcohol. Senior Canadian officials said the tariffs are designed to hit products made in key Republican states, such as Florida, Ohio and South Carolina.

Ontario has ordered its state-run alcohol retailer and wholesaler to remove all U.S. products from store shelves starting on Tuesday, when the 25% tariffs are set to start, and said U.S. products would no longer be made available to restaurants, bars and other customers. The provinces of Quebec and British Columbia have implemented similar measures.

President Trump wrote on social media that he spoke to Justin Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, this morning and plans to talk to him again at 3 p.m. about the tariffs.

This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 03, 2025 14:03 ET (19:03 GMT)

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