Premier Doug Ford, speaking in an interview with The Associated Press, said “everything is on the table” if the dispute worsens, including cutting off electricity and critical minerals from Ontario. He also called for Canada to consider using oil and potash as leverage.

“I’ll cut them off,” Ford said of critical minerals. “You won’t get a grain of sand out of Ontario.”

Critical minerals are increasingly important to U.S. national security and manufacturing. The Pentagon has sought more secure supplies of minerals used in military aircraft, missiles, munitions and electronics as Washington tries to reduce reliance on China, which dominates the mining or processing of several strategically important minerals.

Ford specifically cited high-grade nickel shipped to the United States and uranium refined in Ontario.

“What would they do without the high-grade nickel that we ship down to the U.S.?” Ford said.