U.S. crude oil imports from Canada rose last week to the highest on record, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Wednesday, ahead of incoming U.S. president Donald Trump’s plans to levy a 25% tariff on Canadian imports.
Trump, who has long complained about Canada’s trade surplus with the U.S., on Tuesday said he plans to use economic force to turn Canada into the 51st U.S. state.
Canada has been one of the top sources of U.S. oil imports for many years. Many U.S. oil refiners, especially in the Midwest, are geared specifically to run heavier crude oil grades sourced from Canada.
U.S. crude oil imports from Canada rose by 689,000 barrels a day in the week ended Jan. 3 to 4.42 million barrels a day, the highest in records going back to June 2010, the EIA data showed. That was the biggest week-over-week jump in imports from Canada since the week ended July 12, 2024.
“Canada obviously matters a lot, and there’s a lot of two way trade,” said Josh Young, chief investment officer at Houston, Texas-based investment firm Bison Interests.
(Reporting by Shariq Khan and Scott DiSavino in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)