Canada reviews uranium, crude oil export tariffs against Trump's 'tariff threat'

In response to U.S. President-elect Trump's threat to impose tariffs, Canada is even considering imposing export tariffs on major export raw materials such as uranium, crude oil and potassium, Bloomberg reported.

Bloomberg quoted officials familiar with Trudeau's administration as saying that if Trump chooses to wage a full-scale trade war, he could counteract by increasing the cost of U.S. consumers, farmers and businesses due to the imposition of raw material export tariffs.

However, it said retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods and export controls on certain homegrown goods were likely to be considered as priority, and the imposition of export tariffs on key raw materials would be a last resort.

In this regard, the possibility of the Trudeau government proposing to expand government authority related to export control through the evaluation of the national financial and economic conditions to be released on the 16th is also being discussed.

Canada is the largest U.S. oil supplier, and U.S. Midwest refiners, in particular, are heavily dependent on Canadian heavy crude.

Canada also supplies about a quarter of the uranium needed for U.S. nuclear reactors and is a major source of potassium fertilizer in the United States.

The Pentagon has been investing in Canada-related businesses to secure sources of cobalt and graphite and to break away from dependence on China.

Earlier on the 25th of last month, Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs if the problem was not resolved, saying drugs and criminals were flowing into the United States through the Canadian-Mexico border.

Canada also imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products in 2018 when the first Trump administration announced additional tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.