FREDERICTON — New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt says Canada’s trade war with the U.S. has not reached a point where her province would stop supplying electricity to Maine. “It would be an exceptionally serious move to do that, and so we would have to be in a position a lot further down the road than where we are in this trade war today,” Holt said Tuesday at an unrelated news conference. She and other premiers have faced questions in recent days about what moves they could make in response to a new wave of U.S. levies on Canadian products worth billions of dollars and ranging from hockey sticks to alcohol. The Liberal premier described the possibility of flipping the switch off for tens of thousands of Maine customers who only receive electricity from New Brunswick’s public utility operator as “a hypothetical question.” “That’s an extremely serious measure to turn the power off to a community in northern Maine that have been our friends and neighbours for generations and who need that power to operate things like their hospital,” she said. However, Holt also said her province could stop exporting “energy products that help heat and cool homes and power cars all through New England.” New Brunswick exports nearly all of its $9.3 billion worth of refined petroleum products to the United States, the province’s largest energy export by value, according to government data. Those products, primarily from refiner Irving Oil, are used for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Holt did not give any further specifics on the possible measures when speaking to reporters on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the federal government said it will increase tariffs on American steel and aluminum products from 25 to 50 per cent in retaliation for the U.S. imposing tariffs last week on $27.6 billion of Canadian goods. Officials said the administration is matching the dollar amount of Washington’s tariffs and stressed Canada was not targeting any new products beyond ones the U.S. has already hit. The measures will also include 50 per cent tariffs on clothing and apparel, and a 25 per cent levy on appliances, dairy products and certain steel and aluminum derivatives products. A 15 per cent tariff is being tacked on a small list of items including hand tools, air conditioners and forklifts. Holt said Tuesday there were other tools her government could use in retaliation to U.S. levies, too. She suggested that her government could stop American participation in moose hunting and salmon fishing. Her province’s lobster exports to the U.S. could also be used as leverage, she said. The federal government has included seafood among the products subject to its new 25 per cent tariff. At a meeting of the premiers in Prince Edward Island last month, Holt left open the door to using her province’s energy exports to the U.S. as a high-value chip in trade talks. Like many other provinces, New Brunswick last year removed U.S. alcohol from its liquor stores and banned U.S. companies from bidding on provincial procurement opportunities. That’s as her Ontario counterpart Doug Ford warned earlier this week he could cut off his province’s power exports to the U.S. entirely. Holt also said her government would look at whether its joint provincial-federal $13.7-million tariff relief fund needs a top-up in the next provincial budget amid increased U.S. levies. Holt on Monday said she’s working with Ottawa on retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. and supports hitting the Americans where it hurts. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 25, 2026. — With files from The Associated Press. Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press
