Canada should be ready to cut electricity, critical minerals, Ontario's premier says

# Why This Matters Ontario's threat to weaponize electricity and critical mineral exports marks a fundamental shift in North American trade negotiations from tariffs on goods to leverage over essential infrastructure. Electricity grids across the upper Midwest and Northeast depend on Canadian hydropower and interconnected transmission systems, meaning any export restrictions would immediately disrupt power supplies to millions of Americans and destabilize grid reliability during winter demand peaks. Equally significant, Canada controls roughly 90 percent of US rare earth element refining and supplies critical minerals like nickel and cobalt essential to EV batteries and defense systems—sectors where American supply chain vulnerabilities have become explicit national security concerns. If either country follows through on weaponizing these resources, it could trigger tit-for-tat restrictions that fragment the integrated North American energy and manufacturing ecosystems built over three decades, raising costs for consumers and forcing expensive redundancy in supply chains across both nations.