When President-elect Donald Trump recently floated the idea of annexing Canada, a key reason he gave was a claim that the United States was “losing $200 billion a year” to its northern neighbor.

The government is preparing for the possibility that the incoming U.S. administration will impose high tariffs on Canadian goods, setting the close allies up for a showdown.

Should President-elect Donald Trump follow through on his promise to impose a new 25% tariff on goods imported from Canada, the United States' northern neighbor has vowed to retaliate in a trade war that could prove costly for American consumers.