Economists say that while it’s too soon to tell what the details could look like, the threatened tariffs would undoubtedly re-arrange long-standing trade flow patterns and discourage U.S. buyers from buying Albertan products.

Mexico said it would slap tit-for-tat tariffs on the US, while China said Trump's finger-pointing "runs completely counter to facts".

Justin Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, told reporters on Tuesday that he had a "good" conversation with Trump following the president-elect's post.