Ontario says it would ban China from deals on minerals, energy

The leader of Canada’s largest province said the government will ban Chinese components from energy projects if his party is reelected later this month.

“China is playing by its own rules, is flooding markets, hijacking supply chains, undercutting our workers and threatening our industries,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters on Monday at a nuclear components manufacturing plant in Oakville, Ontario.

Ontario would ban any Chinese state-owned enterprise from buying or taking equity in any government-funded energy, critical mineral or major infrastructure asset, Ford said.

The announcement, made 17 days before a provincial election, underscores his efforts to try to convince policymakers in Washington that Canada can support a strategic competition with China. Ford and his Progressive Conservative Party are campaigning for a third term.

“If Canada and the US want to win, if we want to protect our workers and their paychecks, we need to fight together, not each other,” he said.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday he’ll impose 25% tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum. Canada is the largest supplier of both metals to the US, and the country accounted for about a quarter of the steel the US imported in 2023. Most of that came from Ontario steel mills.

Polling shows Ford’s Progressive Conservatives are on track to win their third majority on Feb. 27.

(By Stephanie Hughes and Melissa Shin)