Any Canadian response to U.S. tariffs will be regionally fair and equitable and not single out Alberta, Canada's main oil-producing province, Canada's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said on Wednesday.

Canada's federal government has assured Alberta that it will not bear a disproportionate burden of any retaliatory tariffs imposed in response to potential US import levies.

If the U.S. follows through on President Donald Trump's threat to impose massive tariffs on Canada as early as Saturday, Ottawa could hit back with retaliatory tariffs within hours or days, according to international trade lawyers.

The Bank of Canada is likely to cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday as officials lay out their analysis of how US tariffs might derail a soft landing for the Canadian economy.

The Bank of Canada on Wednesday trimmed its key policy rate by 25 basis points to 3%, cut growth forecasts and said it was concerned that U.S. tariffs could stoke persistently high inflation. U.S. President Donald Trump is promising to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada on Saturday.

The Bank of Canada on Wednesday cut its benchmark rate for a sixth straight time, and warned of a significant shock to the economy from a U.S.-Canada trade conflict with tariffs of up to 25%.