Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says the province’s Crown-owned energy corporation could use its purchasing power to fight back against tariffs imposed by the United States.
Kinew says Manitoba Hydro is expected to spend roughly $35 billion over the next two decades on goods required for maintenance and upgrades.
He says countries that may want to work well with Canada — such as South Korea — could benefit from that, while countries that don’t want to work together may not.
For now, Manitoba is not going as far as the Ontario government, which has placed a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity exported to the U.S.
Kinew signalled last week that Manitoba may curtail future exports of hydroelectricity to the U.S. under a rule requiring cabinet approval for new or extended power contracts with firms south of the border.
Kinew says he would prefer U.S. President Donald Trump drop the tariffs on Canadian goods but is willing to consider restricting American firms from Manitoba Hydro infrastructure projects as retaliation.
“Manitoba Hydro actually has tremendous buying power and that’s one of the tools we’re looking to use effectively,” Kinew said Monday.
“It so happens that because of what’s happening with the Trump tariff threats that a lot of that conversation is now, like, ‘How do we push back against the Trump administration? How do we stand up effectively?’ But we can also use that in a positive way to say, ‘Hey, countries and companies that want to work well with us — let’s do some deals.'”
Manitoba has taken other measures to counter the U.S. tariffs, such as pulling American alcohol products from liquor store shelves and taking out advertisements to urge people to buy Canadian goods.
(This report by Steve Lambert of The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2025)
