Ford’s comments also raise the specter of broader retaliation from Canada that somehow disrupts the flow of oil imported into the United States, although analysts say such a move looks unlikely at this point.

A full-blown trade war between the United States and Canada could ultimately damage both economies, hurting consumers and businesses on either side of the border.

“This is a threat that shouldn’t be ignored. Canada doesn’t want to take this lying down,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

Experts said that any retaliation from Canada, including from the provinces, would need to get approved by the federal government in Ottawa.

The United States regularly imports hydropower from Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. Canada is the leading source of imported electricity into the United States, although it represents a relatively small piece of the pie of total consumption.

Last year, the United States imported 38.9 million megawatt hours of electricity, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The vast majority of that – 33.2 million megawatt hours – came from Canada.

However, that represents less than 1% of annual US electricity consumption, according to the EIA.

Still, the United States and Canada have long relied on each other to meet demands for power during periods of peak demand or weak supply.

For instance, Canada imports US electricity when hydropower generation is low, such as during droughts.

“The trade is important to grid balancing – constantly matching electricity consumption to electricity production — and helping to shore up electricity supply,” the EIA said in a recent report.

The United States bought roughly $3.2 billion of power from Canada last year, down almost 30% from 2022.

“Power transmission lines linking the United States and Canada are part of a complex and highly interconnected power system, with connections spanning New England to the Pacific Northwest,” the EIA said.

A sudden change in that close relationship could create headaches for US states along the border with Canada that at times rely on electricity imports.

However, those problems would likely only be temporary, according to RJ Johnston, research director at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.

“I don’t see much vulnerability for the US,” said Johnston.

He pointed to abundant electricity resources in the United States and the option to shift power to regions that need it.

“Even in an extended outage the US has the ability to add more generation capacity in a relatively short period of time,” Johnston said.

Instead of electricity, Johnston said Canada could have more leverage over America in areas that are harder for US officials to make up for, including aluminum and nickel.

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