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Canada’s Ontario Bans US Firms From Govt Contracts, Dumps Starlink Deal

 

"Ontario won't do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy," Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on X.

 


A CN train car is seen near the Port of Montreal with rollercoasters from the Six Flags theme park in the background, in Montreal, Canada, on February 3, 2025. US President Donald Trump paused tariffs on Mexico for one month after last-minute talks Monday — but there was no breakthrough yet in negotiations with Canada on an issue that has sparked fears of a global trade war.

 

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province and its economic engine, announced Monday a ban on US companies bidding on tens of billions of dollars worth of government contracts, and dumped a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink in a pushback to US tariffs.

“Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on X.

“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.

Starlink satellites were to start beaming internet services to northern Ontario starting in June.

The company’s owner, Musk, is the world’s richest man and a close adviser to US President Donald Trump, who vowed to slap 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports starting on Tuesday.

Ontario’s liquor stores also started on Monday pulling US beer, wine and spirits off shelves.

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 own 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.

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