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- cross-posted to:
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province plans on moving ahead with a tax on electricity sent to several U.S. states starting early next week.
Ford said the 25 per cent tax will be announced on Monday, with it likely being enacted on Tuesday.
“We are moving forward with it. I feel terrible for the American people because it’s not the American people, and it’s not even the elected officials, it’s one person and that’s President (Donald) Trump.” Ford told 640Toronto radio host Ben Mulroney on Thursday.
“It’s totally unacceptable, but he’s coming after his closest friends, closest allies in the world and it’s going to absolutely devastate both economies.”
Out of curiosity and I seriously doubt people will know, but how does the US pay for hydro. They don’t stop it at the border and they can’t return it. Rates have to be agreed upon prior to delivery.
I’m quite sure the actual transaction is between private American utility companies and their counterparts across the border. There likely is a contract in place between the two companies which agrees on pricing, which would either spell out how rates are calculated, require a guaranteed warning period before rate increases, or disallow rate changes until the contract expires and is renewed.
However, Ford isn’t talking about a rate change between the companies. Even though it’s not a physical good, it’s cross-border trade which means it happens at the pleasure of the governments on both sides. Ford is talking about applying a tax to the electricity, which I assume his government has the power to do. Contracts between private entities cannot stop the government from levying a tax if it chooses.