TORONTO– Canada is already examining possible retaliatory tariffs on certain products from the United States if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his threat to impose drastic tariffs on Canadian products, a senior official said Wednesday.

Asset has threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if those countries don’t stop what it calls the flow of drugs and migrants across the southern and northern borders. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products. enter the United States of Canada and Mexico as one of his first decrees.

A Canadian government official said Canada was preparing for any eventuality and had started thinking about where to target retaliatory tariffs. The official stressed that no decision had been made. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for example, announced billion in new rights in 2018 against the United States in a tit-for-tat response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum.

Many American products were chosen for their political rather than economic impact. For example, Canada imports $3 million worth of yogurt from the United States each year, and most of it comes from a factory in Wisconsin, the home state of then-Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan. This product was subject to a 10% duty.

Another product on the list was whiskey, which comes from Tennessee and Kentucky, the latter being the home state of Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell.

Trump made the threat Monday as he railed against the influx of illegal migrants, even though the numbers at the Canadian border pale in comparison to the southern border.

The U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 apprehensions at the Mexican border in October alone – and 23,721 apprehensions at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024.

Canadian officials say lumping Canada in with Mexico is unfair, but they say they are happy to work with the Trump administration to reduce the numbers coming from Canada. Canadians also worry about an influx of migrants heading north if Trump implements his mass deportation plan.

Trump also denounced fentanyl coming from Mexico and Canada, even though seizures at the Canadian border pale in comparison to the Mexican border. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared to 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.

Canadian officials maintain that their country is not the problem and that the tariffs will have serious consequences for both countries.

Canada is the primary export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly C$3.6 billion (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border every day. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports come from Canada and 85% of U.S. electricity imports come from Canada. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the United States and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon desires and invests in for national security.

“Canada is essential to the United States’ national energy supply,” said Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Trump has pledged to cut U.S. energy bills in half within 18 months, which could be made more difficult if a 25% premium was added to Canadian oil imports. By 2023, Canadian oil accounted for nearly two-thirds of total U.S. oil imports and about one-fifth of U.S. oil supplies.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds an emergency virtual meeting Wednesday with Canadian provincial leaders, who want Trudeau to negotiate a bilateral trade deal with the United States that excludes Mexico.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested Tuesday that Mexico could retaliate with tariffs on his own initiative against the United States.