President Donald Trump's actual and threatened tariffs on imported goods from certain foreign nations are intended not just as revenue raisers for the U.S. but also as negotiating tools to achieve more balanced trade deals and as an incentive for companies to manufacture and produce goods domestically in the U.S.

Despite critics' claims to the contrary, Trump's tariffs are working, as evidenced by Ontario Premier Doug Ford's swift retreat from his threat to impose a 25% surcharge on Canadian electricity exported to three northern U.S. states, according to Breitbart.

Ford's backtracking on Tuesday came just hours after Trump threatened to double to 50% an impending tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum, among other retaliatory measures, which prompted an emergency conversation between Ford and U.S. Commerce Sec. Howard Lutnick that was immediately followed by Ford withdrawing his threatened electricity surcharge.

Threats and counterthreats

President Trump has been threatening since even before he entered office in January to impose new or increase existing tariffs against Canada to match or exceed that nation's already elevated tariffs against the U.S., and Ontario Premier Ford, among other Canadian leaders, pushed back with escalating retaliatory threats of their own.

According to CNN, Ford announced on Monday that his province would soon impose a 25% surcharge on electricity exported to U.S. consumers in Michigan, Minnesota, and New York, and further threatened, "If the United States escalates, I will not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely."

Less than a day later, Trump responded to Ford's threat with a lengthy Truth Social post on Tuesday morning that stated, in part, "Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on 'Electricity' coming into the United States, I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. This will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th."

"I will shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area. This will allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada," he added.

In a separate follow-up post, Trump wrote of the situation, "Why would our Country allow another Country to supply us with electricity, even for a small area? Who made these decisions, and why? And can you imagine Canada stooping so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the life of innocent people, as a bargaining chip and threat? They will pay a financial price for this so big that it will be read about in History Books for many years to come!"

Ford backed down from 25% electricity surcharge threat

It would appear that President Trump's calling out of Premier Ford's bluff almost immediately had the desired effect, as CNBC reported later on Tuesday that Ford had backed off from his electricity surcharge threat following a phone call with U.S. Commerce Sec. Lutnick, which also included an agreement for a meeting in Washington D.C. for renewed talks on existing trade agreements.

Ford told reporters that he'd "had a productive conversation about the economic relationship between" the U.S. and Canada with Lutnick, and revealed, "We have both agreed, let cooler heads prevail."

As such, the 25% electricity surcharge that Ford threatened to impose on three U.S. states was suspended indefinitely. Meanwhile, CNBC further reported that, according to White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro, Trump also agreed to hold off on his threat to double the impending tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum from 25% to 50%.

Trump not doubling aluminum and steel tariff from 25% to 50%

The tit-for-tat trade war was also covered by CBS News, which confirmed through Sec. Lutnick that President Trump had agreed not to double the aluminum and steel tariff in response to Premier Ford backing down from his electricity surcharge threat.

Asked if Trump still intended to impose the 50% tariff, Lutnick replied, "No, that's off, too. So, we're at 25% for steel and aluminum because that's where we were."

That was further confirmed by White House spokesman Kush Desai, who told CBS News, "The 25% tariff on steel and aluminum with no exceptions or exemptions will go into effect for Canada and all of our other trading partners at midnight, March 12th."