New Delhi, March 11 -- President Donald Trump said today he intends to declare a "National Emergency on Electricity" in states that could be affected by Ontario's imposition of a 25pc surcharge on electricity exports and further threat to cut off exports entirely.

The emergency declaration will allow the US to alleviate the "abusive threat" from losing electricity imports from Canada, Trump wrote in a post on social media. Trump said in response to the surcharge, he would double existing tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, and warned Canada that it would pay a high cost if Ontario cuts off the flow of electricity to the US.

"Can you imagine Canada stooping so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the life of innocent people, as...