Canada is preparing retaliatory tariffs in response to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's threat to levy a 25 per cent import tax on all Canadian goods, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to withhold the province's energy, which it exports to five states.

Speaking at an event put on by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, Trudeau said that's because Trump's team is coming in with a much clearer set of ideas of what they want to do right away than after his first election win in 2016.

Unity among provinces and the federal government is critical in the face of the grave challenge posed by the threat of massive new import tariffs from Canada's closest trading partner, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Wednesday following an emergency first ministers' meeting.