Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on January 7 rejected threats from President-elect Donald Trump that the U.S. would annex the country, one of its largest trading partners, saying: “There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States.

“Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s biggest trading and security partner,” Trudeau wrote on social media.

Trump on January 6 had denied a report in the Washington Post that said his aides were exploring tariff plans that would cover only critical imports, rather than the blanket ones he has repeatedly threatened. And, at a January 7 press conference, Trump warned his incoming administration was getting frustrated over what the president-elected called “subsidies” for Canada, reports The Guardian.

The Washington Post, citing three sources familiar with the matter, published an article on January 6, saying that Trump aides were exploring tariff plans that would be applied to every country but cover only certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security. Trump emphatically denied this, calling it “fake news.”

Trump has proposed a 60% tariff on all goods from China, and 25% on those from Mexico or Canada – duties that would increase tariffs by over $1.2 trillion annually before the application of duty reduction processes such as duty drawback, and could add up to an amount that would exceed profits for some companies, consulting firm PwC estimates.

Trump's office has failed to respond to requests to be interviewed by SupplyChainBrain.