Can Canada really cut off power to parts of Minnesota due to the trade war between the two countries?

In retaliation to Trump's announcement that he would place a 50% tariff on $20 billion of Canadian goods, Minnesota's neighbors to the north responded with a dollar-for-dollar tariff.

But, there's also talk they'll cut off electricity to a portion of the United States including Minnesota, from the Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Ford said "everything is on the table" if the dispute worsens, including cutting off electricity and critical minerals from Ontario.

How much of a reality is the threat of cutting off electricity?

"Nationally, we import, call it 1% of total power from Canada, but here in Minnesota that percentage is probably more in the 5% to 10% range," explains University of St. Thomas Economics Professor Tyler Schipper. "And that means that it's likely power prices go up if there's any kind of sustained delay in delivering electricity from Canada."

Schipper said if this were to occur, there wouldn't be instant blackouts. Instead, it is one more thing that would affect pocketbooks with it mostly being a cost issue.

"Hopefully there's additional capacity from local power generations and elsewhere in the regional grid that you would be able to make up for this, but for the most part this is mostly a cost issue," Schipper adds.

Ford went on to say that Canada should also consider increasingly severe retaliation if Trump continues targeting Canadian industries, including oil and potash, while Ontario could raise electricity prices or stop sending power south.

"We power 1.5 million homes and businesses," Ford said. "Everything's on the table. I'll do whatever it takes."

Ford has used electricity as leverage before. During an earlier phase of the dispute, Ontario imposed a 25% surcharge on electricity exported to Michigan, Minnesota and New York. Trump responded by threatening to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum before both sides backed away.