Canada has stressed its importance to the United States, shortly after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he would impose high import tariffs on all goods from the neighbouring country as soon as he returns to the White House in January.

“Canada and the United States have one of the strongest and closest relationships, particularly when it comes to trade and border security,” said Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Canada’s Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc in a joint statement.

“Canada places the highest priority on border security and the integrity of our shared border,” they added.

The ministers stressed the “balanced and mutually beneficial” relationship between the neighbours, pointing out that “Canada is essential to U.S. domestic energy supply, and last year 60 per cent of U.S. crude oil imports originated in Canada.”

The statement also highlighted the cooperation between Canadian and U.S. law enforcement “to disrupt the scourge of the fentanyl coming from China and other countries.”

“We will, of course, continue to discuss these issues with the incoming administration,” the ministers added.

However, they did not specifically mention Mr Trump’s announcement from a couple of hours earlier.

Mr Trump said on Truth Social, the social media platform he co-founded, that he would sign an executive order imposing a 25 per cent tariff on products coming into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada, justifying the move on the grounds of immigrants bringing crime and drugs with them across these two borders into the U.S.

(dpa/NAN)