While President Donald Trump has postponed his tariff threat back to Feb. 1, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says that the blame for any tariffs, should they materialize, lies squarely on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“Let’s be super clear about why we find ourselves in the situation that we’re in today. It lands 100% at the feet of Justin Trudeau, who even just a few weeks ago gave a speech where he thought it was an affront to women that Kamala Harris didn’t win,” Smith told reporters at a Tuesday press conference.
Smith said Canada is in trade negotiations with a new administration in the United States. She added that Trudeau keeps poking the bull and damaging the relationship between the two countries.
“So if there’s a failure, it lands at his feet, which is why I’m counting down the days to when he’s gone, and we can have a reset. It’s 47 days to go, and I hope he doesn’t continue torching the relationship,” said Smith.
Smith said she’s doing what she can to negotiate with the United States administration through her province’s Washington office. Smith held the press conference from Washington, D.C. where she has been meeting with various U.S. governors, senators, and business leaders over the last few days.
She called on all premiers to do the same because there will be a new prime minister in 47 days and likely another new prime minister shortly thereafter. Due to the rapid turnover of the federal government, premiers will be the only constant voices in negotiations.
Despite being a provincial premier, Smith clarified that she was negotiating for all Canadians and not seeking a specific carve out for her province alone.
Smith’s negotiations for Canada to remain tariff-free have focused on the mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries, and that the United States has a $58 billion trade surplus sans energy, confirmed by the National Bank of Canada’s report.
The day before meeting with reporters, Smith issued a press release with six steps the country could take to avoid future tariffs being imposed. One suggestion was to restore immigration levels to those under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Prior to Trump’s inauguration, Smith reiterated her call for a federal election and proposed leveraging Canada’s energy to deal with the threat.
Whether the tariffs come on Feb. 1 or Apr. 1, as suggested by the executive order, Smith doubled down on her preferred approach of collaboration over retaliation.
She previously refused to support a potential export tax on Alberta energy. Following a meeting between the country’s premiers and the prime minister last Wednesday, Alberta refrained from signing the joint statement that outlined the proposed retaliatory measures to Trump’s tariffs. Every other premier and Trudeau signed it.
Trudeau recently said he supports matching tariffs dollar for dollar with the U.S.
Smith explained that Canada’s economy is one-tenth the size of the U.S.’s and that Canada is much more reliant on its Southern partner than vice versa.
“Trying to go tit for tat in a tariff war without addressing the underlying issues is not going to go well for Canada,” said Smith.
Despite Smith’s reluctance, an Ipsos poll from the same day as her press conference highlighted that 82% of Canadians support a retaliatory tariff.
However, she said that she doesn’t govern based on opinion polls.
“This is a relationship that’s lasted more than 100 years. We have, from time to time, skirmishes. But you don’t torch a 100-year relationship over a temporary problem,” said Smith. “You identify the issues that are causing the irritation, and then you work through them one at a time.”
Instead of fighting, Smith wants to double down on oil production and pipeline capacity. She wants to get as many projects on the go during this 4-year administration before a potential change in government and change in energy stewardship leads to abandoning projects like what occurred with Keystone XL.