Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she supports counter-tariffs announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but is against imposing levies on energy exports to the U.S.
Smith made the comments on March 4 after Trump’s tariffs of 25 percent on Canadian goods and 10 percent on Canadian energy took effect.
Trudeau said Canada will impose counter-tariffs on $155 billion worth of American imports. Beginning March 4, $30 billion in imports will face a 25 per cent tariff, with the remaining $125 billion affected in 21 days.
In a social media post, Smith said Canada needs to stand united.
“Alberta fully supports the Federal response announced today by the Prime Minister. I will be meeting with my Cabinet today and tomorrow to discuss Alberta’s response to these illegal tariffs, which we will announce publicly tomorrow,” she wrote.
Trudeau said he may consider non-tariff responses, including a review of U.S. companies’ purchasing and contracting practices. He said Canada’s response to the tariffs will be “equitable” and won’t disproportionately hurt any one part of the country.
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Smith had previously refused to sign a joint statement between Ottawa and the other premiers, saying federal officials had floated the possibility of putting tariffs on Alberta energy exports.
During a March 4 interview with CNBC, Smith expressed disappointment in Trump’s actions but said retaliatory tariffs on Alberta energy exports are not on the table.
“I’ve already said that we’re not going to retaliate on energy. That is such an essential product for American consumers and American businesses,” she said during the interview. “We’ve got some 4.3 million barrels a day going into the United States. We want to make sure that that fuel continues.”
She said the American people will see rising costs and inflation as a result of the tariffs and that once Canada shifts to other suppliers, it will be harder for American businesses to win back that market, leaving the U.S. relying on unreliable trading partners. “So I would say, the sooner this gets resolved, the better.”
Americans must understand that “we are your best customer,” and no one wins in a tariff war. “We buy more goods and services from you than anyone else in the world, and so when you put these tariffs in place, it means that we just want to buy less from America.”
In a post on the X platform, she wrote, “Billions of dollars have been wiped from the stock market and consumers and business are about to feel the economic damage to come, especially manufacturers and refiners in the USA that rely on raw materials from Canada.”
Canada needs to “tear down” provincial trade barriers and “fast-track” projects like pipelines, LNG facilities, and critical minerals projects, Smith said.
“We must strengthen our trade ties throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas for all our energy, agricultural, and manufactured products. We also need to drastically increase military spending to ensure we can protect our nation. There is no time to waste on any of these initiatives,” she said in a subsequent X post.
On March 4, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Trump will reach a middle ground with Canada and Mexico on tariffs, with an announcement expected on March 5.
Omid Ghoreishi, Noe Chartier, Reuters contributed to this article.
