Any Canadian response to U.S. tariffs will be regionally fair and equitable and not single out Alberta, Canada's main oil-producing province, Canada's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Commerce Department has told US lawmakers that Canada and Mexico can avoid blanket tariffs if they close their borders to fentanyl. "As far as I know, they are acting swiftly, and if they execute it, there will be no tariff," Howard Lutnick said on Wednesday during a confirmation hearing before senators.

Lutnick said Trump's Saturday deadline for imposing 25 per cent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico was meant to pressure the two countries to stop the flow of fentanyl into the US

General Motors, the largest producer of cars in Mexico, won’t provide details on how it would react if President Trump imposes 25 percent tariffs from the two countries.

The 25% import levy could go into place as soon as Feb. 1.

If the U.S. follows through on President Donald Trump's threat to impose massive tariffs on Canada as early as Saturday, Ottawa could hit back with retaliatory tariffs within hours or days, according to international trade lawyers.