Canada cancels Elon Musk’s Starlink deal, bans US firms from govt contracts

Canada cancels Elon Musk’s Starlink deal, bans US firms from govt contracts

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province and key economic hub, has announced a ban on U.S. companies bidding on government contracts worth tens of billions of dollars.

This move is a direct response to the imposition of tariffs by the United States.

The province also terminated its existing agreement with Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, Starlink, as part of its retaliatory measures.

“Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on X.

“US-based businesses will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues. They only have President Trump to blame.”

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Ford said he was “ripping up” a Can$100 million (US$68 million) contract with Starlink, signed in November, to provide internet services to 15,000 homes and businesses in remote northern parts of Ontario.

Starlink satellites were to start beaming internet services to northern Ontario starting in June.

The company’s owner, Musk, is the world’s richest man and a close adviser to US President Donald Trump, who vowed to slap 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports starting on Tuesday.

Ontario’s liquor stores also started on Monday pulling US beer, wine and spirits off shelves.

Several other Canadian provinces including Quebec, Nova Scotia and British Columbia were doing the same.

The government-run Liquor Control Board of Ontario is one of the world’s largest single buyers of alcohol, supplying its own stores as well as local restaurants, bars and other retailers in the province.

It sells almost Can$1 billion worth of US alcohol, or about 3,600 products, each year.

Trump spoke earlier Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the tariffs, and said in a post on his Truth Social platform they would speak again later in the day.

Canada cancels Elon Musk’s Starlink deal, bans US firms from govt contracts