US oil imports from Canada hit record ahead of tariff threat, EIA data shows

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By Shariq Khan

NEW YORK (Reuters) -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 threatened to use economic force to turn Canada into the 51st U.S. state. He previously said he will apply tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico immediately after his inauguration on Jan. 20.

Canada has been the top source of U.S. oil imports for many years, and supplied more than half of the total U.S. crude imports in 2023. 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.

Total U.S. imports of crude oil fell by 498,000 bpd to 6.43 million bpd last week, the lowest in a month, EIA data showed.

The jump in imports from Canada could also be due to strong Canadian output, Kpler analyst Matt Smith said. He noted that Canadian onshore stockpiles have risen from a 4-year low in October, even as exports from the Westridge terminal at the Port of Vancouver, supplied by the Trans Mountain pipeline, have been steady.

(Reporting by Shariq Khan and Scott DiSavino in New York, and Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Nia Williams)