“We won’t award contracts to people who enable and encourage economic attacks on our province and our country,” he added.

This decision follows Ontario’s main liquor wholesaler and retailer announcing that it will also stop purchasing and selling U.S. alcohol.

The Premier once again issued a warning about cutting off power to the U.S., telling lawmakers in New York, Michigan, and Minnesota that if the trade war “persists,” Ontario will impose a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to those states—and might even shut down the supply entirely.

Along the same lines, he also suggested the province could either tax or halt mineral exports to the U.S.

Ford stated: “This is not the outcome anyone wanted.

“We could have poured our efforts into making Canada and the US the two richest, most successful, safest, most secure two countries on the planet. Unfortunately, one man — President Trump — has chosen chaos instead.”

Ontario officials are concerned that the import tariffs could severely impact key industries such as auto manufacturing and steel production while also driving up retail prices and worsening inflation.

Ford emphasized: “We also need to be ready to dig in for a long fight.

“We need to be ready to escalate using every tool in our tool kit.”

According to the Toronto Sun, Ford—who secured his third consecutive majority last week—had previously made an even stronger statement: “If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do anything, including cutting off their energy — with a smile on my face.

“They need to feel the pain. They want to come at us hard? We’ve got to go back twice as hard.”