Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned that "everything is on the table" regarding retaliatory measures to President-elect Donald Trump's threatened tariffs.
Trudeau made the announcement at a news conference in Ottawa, surrounded by members of his government and the leaders of most of Canada's provinces and territories. If Trump follows through on his threat to slap a 25% tariff on all Canadian imports, Ottawa is planning to restrict Canadian exports of energy and key materials, along with tariffs of its own.
The United States and Canada are each other's biggest trade partners, with hundreds of billions of dollars worth of imports and exports each year. Canada is also the main source of U.S. energy imports.
According to data from the Canadian government, it supplied 61% of U.S. crude oil imports in 2021. In 2020, it supplied the U.S. with 98% of natural gas imports, 93% of electricity imports, and 28% of uranium purchases.
While the U.S. economy would be hurt by Canadian retaliatory measures, the Canadian economy would be devastated by Trump's plan. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce warned that 25% U.S. tariffs could send the Canadian economy into a recession by the summer, according to Politico.
The planning has sparked an internal crisis, with the heads of Canada's oil-rich areas warning that they would not support plans to halt energy exports. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, head of the oil-rich province, said her administration would refuse to follow any order to stop oil exports.
"Federal government officials continue to publicly and privately float the idea of cutting off energy supply to the U.S. and imposing export tariffs on Alberta energy and other products to the United States. Until these threats cease, Alberta will not be able to fully support the federal government’s plan in dealing with the threatened tariffs," she said in a post on X.
"Alberta will simply not agree to export tariffs on our energy or other products, nor do we support a ban on exports of these same products. We will take whatever actions are needed to protect the livelihoods of Albertans from such destructive federal policies," Smith added.
She kept her name off a joint statement from the leaders of Canada's provinces and territories, which attempted to project a united front against Trump's tariff threats. She was the only leader to do so.
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Trump's tariff threats were a response to accusations that Canada wasn't doing enough to prevent illegal immigrants and drugs from crossing its border into the U.S. After they were announced, Trudeau's government rolled out a $1.3 billion CAD plan to improve border security, and the prime minister visited Mar-a-Lago, but he wasn't able to convince Trump that the tariffs weren't necessary.
Trudeau resigned as prime minister on Jan. 6 after seeing his popularity dwindle, but he will remain in the position until at least March while the Liberal Party decides on its next leader.