“President-elect Trump’s announced plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on products imported from Canada is obviously concerning given the level of integration between our economies,” Wendy Wagner, partner and head of international trade at law firm Gowling, told Bloomberg in comments on the news.

“In particular, where Canadian exports are used as inputs in American manufacturing, the imposition of tariffs of that magnitude can be expected to have a serious negative impact on American jobs and the competitiveness of sectors of the U.S. economy and seems antithetical to the stated objectives of the new administration.”

The Canadian oil sands are essentially the only source of heavy crude for Gulf Coast refineries because of the sanctions on Venezuela and Russia, and the simple fact of Canada’s proximity to the United States. Indeed, this essential nature of Canadian oil imports became reason for many to doubt Trump would go as far as to impose tariffs on Canadian imports.

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