Ontario cancels $100 million Starlink contract in protest at U.S. tariffs | TechCrunch

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, considered one of Canada’s most populous provinces, introduced on X that the province’s authorities could be “ripping up” its $100 million contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite tv for pc web service.

The information comes quickly after President Donald Trump announced this weekend a 25% tariff on practically all Canadian imported items, inflicting Canada to impose a 25% tariff on U.S. items in response.

“Ontario received’t do enterprise with individuals hellbent on destroying our economic system,” Ford posted on X on Monday.

Musk has turn into a detailed confidant of President Trump, and now oversees the so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity, or DOGE, a workforce inside the Trump administration tasked with conducting large cost-cutting to authorities spending and widescale deregulation. On the similar time, Musk’s Starlink has been looking to strike deals with native and nationwide governments to supply satellite tv for pc web. The Ontario authorities’s Starlink contract was signed in November 2024 and was supposed to supply quick web to distant components of the province. 

In a press convention on Monday, Ford additionally stated U.S. corporations will be banned from future provincial contracts in Ontario till the U.S. authorities removes the tariffs. Ford stated Musk was “a part of the Trump workforce that wishes to destroy households, incomes, destroy companies.”

“[Musk] desires to take meals off the desk of individuals, hard-working individuals, and I’m not going to tolerate it,” stated Ford.

“U.S.-based companies will now lose out on tens of billions of {dollars} in new revenues. They solely have President Trump accountable.”

Starlink didn’t instantly reply to our request for remark.