Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada is not ruling out restricting energy exports to the United States as a possible countermeasure to president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats, an idea that was immediately rejected by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

In an interview that aired on CTV’s Question Period on Sunday morning, Ms. Joly was asked directly whether Canada was prepared to cut off energy exports heading south across the border.

“What I can tell you is everything is on the table,” said Ms. Joly, who is meeting with the provincial premiers on Wednesday, alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, to discuss how Canada should retaliate in the event of a trade war.

The possibility of restricting energy exports was quickly opposed by Ms. Smith. “Alberta will not support a tariff war with our largest trading partner and closest ally,” she said in a statement on Sunday in response to Ms. Joly’s comments.

“Alberta’s government believes that the pathway to strengthening this relationship is to double our oil production and increase exports of crude oil to the U.S., enabling them to export even more light oil to the rest of the world.”

The Alberta Premier was in Florida over the weekend and met with Mr. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort. She said in a social-media post that she had a “friendly and constructive conversation” with Mr. Trump about the North American energy industry and met with “several key allies” of the incoming administration. Photos posted online show Ms. Smith posing at the resort with businessman Kevin O’Leary and psychologist and media personality Jordan Peterson, who are both Canadians.

The federal government has been preparing a list of American goods that it could target with retaliatory tariffs if Mr. Trump proceeds with his threat to put 25-per-cent tariffs on all Canadian imports. These include orange juice, ceramics such as toilets and sinks, and some steel products, The Globe and Mail reported last week.

The idea of cutting off energy exports or using export taxes to raise the cost for American buyers was first floated by Ontario Premier Doug Ford in December but has been strongly opposed by the premiers of Canada’s oil and gas-producing provinces. Mr. Ford has since walked back these comments and advocated for a more integrated North American energy industry as part of a “Fortress Am-Can” economic strategy.

Energy products are Canada’s largest export to the United States by a significant margin, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of all goods exports to the U.S. in 2023. Canada sent $133-billion worth of crude oil and bitumen and $13-billion worth of natural gas south across the border last year, out of a total of around $600-billion in exports to the U.S.

Canada also exported $4.6-billion worth of electricity to the U.S. in 2023, led by exports from Ontario and Quebec to New York, Michigan and the New England states.

Canadian leaders have sought to persuade their American counterparts that tariffs on Canadian energy products would severely damage the U.S. economy. Mr. Trudeau made this point again in an interview that aired on the U.S. television network MSNBC on Sunday.

“Most of the Midwestern refineries are built for heavy crude. That almost entirely comes from Canada, and there are thousands of jobs in the Midwest on crude that comes in from Canada that then gets passed along to American consumers,” he said.

With the federal government in disarray after the resignation of finance minister Chrystia Freeland last month and the announcement from Mr. Trudeau last week that he is stepping down, Canadian premiers have taken a larger role in shaping the country’s response to U.S. trade threats. A delegation of premiers is heading to Washington on Feb. 12 to press the Canadian case with U.S. lawmakers.

However, there is disagreement among the provinces about the best way to retaliate. In an interview that aired on CBC on Sunday, British Columbia Premier David Eby said he supported export bans on key commodities.

He said that most of the discussions between the premiers and Ottawa have focused on putting retaliatory tariffs on U.S. consumer goods. But he said he is encouraging the federal government to look at export bans on critical minerals and other products produced in Canada that the U.S. cannot get elsewhere.

“Obviously, B.C. produces a lot of energy for the United States, electricity, as well as natural gas. These are significant economic drivers for the United States,” he said.

“China has restricted one of the critical minerals that we produce here in British Columbia, refusing to send it to the U.S. The only place to get it from is a smelter in Trail, British Columbia. And if you don’t get it from us, then you don’t get it at all,” he added. “It’s the kinds of conversations, unfortunately, we’re going to have to have with the Americans, if they’re going to do this to our families.”

Newfoundland Premier Andrew Furey said in an interview with The Globe on Sunday that Canada should make clear that the country’s energy exports are “incredibly important” to the United States, but he didn’t believe threatening it as a first move was strategically in the country’s best interest.

“Using a chess analogy,” he said, “I see energy as the queen and to bring out the queen too early would be a mistake.”

Tariffs that create pressure points on smaller American economies could have political influence that are “equally important” to the extreme step of shutting off the energy supply south, said Mr. Furey, who will have his second conference call with New England governors this week.

Whatever next steps are taken, he said that Canada’s approach needs to be calm and unified. “If we’re not unified, we can’t be strategic,” he said, “and this is a game that is going to require incredible strategy.”

After meeting with the premiers on Wednesday, Ms. Joly will head to Washington to speak with U.S. lawmakers and members of the incoming administration. She said Ottawa needs to pursue a two-track strategy, focusing on diplomatic efforts to persuade the U.S. that a trade war with Canada would hurt the American economy while preparing to retaliate if Mr. Trump follows through.

“It is important to understand that the threat is real and we’re acting on it,” Ms. Joly said in the CTV interview. “That’s why I’m calling every political leader in this country to be on board because this is not time for division. This is not time for weakness. This is a time of strength and unity.”

With a report from Erin Anderssen