Trump’s trade war: Fact-checking Canada’s natural gas leverage over the

Prime Minister Mark Carney claims “Canada fuels American growth,” pointing to U.S.-bound natural gas exports as evidence in a recent speech. His remarks beg the question: What would happen if Canada halted shipments south of the border? 

So far, energy products such as oil and natural gas have not been used as leverage in the escalating Canada-U.S. trade war. The idea is controversial. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has routinely opposed it, while Ontario’s Doug Ford insists all options must be on the table.

“The U.S.’s narrow merchandise trade deficit only exists because the U.S. buys so much of its energy from Canada,” Carney said on Saturday, the morning after trade talks broke down between Canadian and American negotiators in Washington. 

“[Canada supplies] 99 per cent of their natural gas imports, 85 per cent of their electricity imports, 60 per cent of their crude oil imports.” 

The word “imports” does a lot of heavy lifting here, with respect to natural gas. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. imports from Canada averaged 8.6 billion cubic feet per day in 2025, representing virtually all of America’s non-domestic supply. However, this is only a sliver of overall U.S. natural gas consumption – about eight per cent by the EIA’s numbers.

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Dulles Wang, director of Americas gas and LNG at the energy research firm Wood Mackenzie, says that last number is actually as low as five per cent, by his firm’s estimates.

“It’s relatively small,” he told CBC News. 

Natural gas pipelines sprawl across North America like a massive spider web, crossing the Canada-U.S. border in about two dozen locations. From heating homes, to generating electricity, and powering industries, the commodity plays a pivotal role in the daily lives of millions of people. 

Enbridge, headquartered in Calgary, is North America’s largest natural gas provider. In 2024, the company completed a $19 billion series of deals to acquire three U.S. utilities. 

“Gas flows across the borders constantly, every day, every hour of the day. And we’re not just talking about [a] one-direction flow in terms of trade,” Wang said.

“The U.S. imports Canadian supplies, mostly for the western and the Midwest markets. At the same time, the U.S. also exports gas, and that’s also going into the Canadian markets, mostly on the eastern side.”

While Canadian shipments of natural gas to the U.S. may be small compared with America’s domestic production,…