Canada’s Energy Minister says tariff response would not target Alberta

Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, said on Wednesday that any response to U.S. tariffs would be regionally fair and equitable and would not target Alberta, Canada’s main oil-producing province.

Wilkinson, who made the comments during a carbon-capture funding announcement in Calgary on Wednesday morning, said Canada’s response would focus on products in a way that hurts Americans more than Canadians.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian exports to the U.S. as soon as Saturday.

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Canada plans to respond with counter-tariffs on U.S. goods, and concerns the federal government could also restrict oil exports or impose export tariffs have led to tensions between Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and the Trudeau government.

Canada sends 75 per cent of all goods and services exports to the United States. Canada has been the top source of U.S. oil imports for many years, and supplied more than half of the total U.S. crude imports in 2023.

5:58 Alberta business council working overtime in Washington as tariffs loom