Ontario Axes Deal With Musk’s Starlink, Then Restores It After Tariff Hike Pause

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province and a key hub for the country’s financial and manufacturing sectors, canceled a $68 million contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink and banned U.S. companies from bidding on tens of billions of dollars in government contracts, Sean Craig reported for The Daily Beast.

Just minutes after it was reported that President Trump had backed down on his tariff hikes, Ford announced that Ontario was also pausing its cancellation of the Starlink contract. I Photo: Starlink X

“Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy,” Premier Doug Ford said in a statement posted to X on Monday, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

“Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues. They only have President Trump to blame.”

However, just minutes after the Associated Press (AP) reported that President Trump had backed down on his tariff hikes in a call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ford announced that Ontario was also pausing its cancellation of the Starlink contract.

“With the U.S. pausing tariffs, Ontario will also pause our retaliatory measures. If President Trump proceeds with tariffs, we won’t hesitate to remove American products from LCBO shelves or ban American companies from provincial procurement,” Ford stated.

He added that the U.S. and Canada "need to remain united and focused on the real trade war we’re fighting—with China," Lawrence Bonk reported for Engadget.