Alberta’s Smith doubles down on diplomatic approach as U.S. tariffs expected Feb. 1

EDMONTON — As a possible Feb. 1 deadline looms for the United States to impose punishing tariffs on Canadian goods, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’s sticking to her diplomatic approach to try to stop them.

Smith, in a virtual news conference from Washington on Tuesday, said Alberta will have to “wait and see” what the tariffs look like before laying out a response.

“I don’t think that there’s much point in trying to negotiate this in public with the media,” said Smith, who is in the U.S. capital to talk with lawmakers.

“It’s far more important for us to be thoughtful about it, to see what actually comes through, and then to be able to take a proportionate response.”

She said Trump remains unpredictable.

“We don’t know when it’s coming in,” she said.

“So until we see what it looks like, I don’t think we can really know what the Canadian response is going to be.”

Trump said late Monday, hours after being sworn in as president, that he is thinking of instituting 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods starting Feb. 1.

He had previously said the tariffs could come on his first day in office.

Also Monday, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to study trade issues — including alleged unfair practices by Canada, Mexico and China — with an April 1 deadline.

Smith said Canada must refrain from making retaliatory threats, because she doesn’t think the U.S. president “responds well” to them and that Trump is “enthusiastic” about tariffs as a revenue source.

She said she sees the reprieve as an opportunity to continue to make the friendly case to keep tariffs off the table.

With Trump’s vocal support of petroleum production, Smith said pipeline companies are “dusting off old plans” that may have been shelved during the previous U.S. administration.

Smith has pursued diplomacy to address Trump’s main irritants. Trump has pointed to Canada’s border security, military spending and trade imbalance — things Smith says can and should be rectified.

Trump has also presented economic measures as a way to squeeze Canada and make it more amenable to being annexed by the U.S.

Smith visited Trump at his Florida home earlier this month to make the case for unencumbered cross-border trade and is in Washington this week to tout cross-border energy to U.S. officials and lawmakers.

She has broken ranks with her fellow premiers by dismissing talk of retaliatory threats, including a counter-tariff on Alberta’s oil and gas shipments.

That approach has come under fire from critics who say it undermines Canada’s negotiating position and that a more confrontational approach is needed to counter an existential threat to Canada’s sovereignty.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated Tuesday that if Trump moves on tariffs, Canada will respond and “everything is on the table.”

After Smith refused to sign a joint communique from her provincial counterparts last week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Canada needs to fight American threats with a united approach.

“In a card game, you don’t show your opposition your cards,” he said.

Smith pushed back at Ford in an interview with the CBC on Monday, saying she would never advocate cutting off auto exports from Ontario or aluminum exports from Quebec.

“It hurt me that they felt that they could make that same argument, that Alberta should sacrifice our interests in order to try to advance some kind of trade war,” she said.

Smith got some political help from an unexpected ally Tuesday. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said it would be “absurd” to cut energy exports.

Smith also rejected a suggestion that her approach was all for naught. She said Tuesday if there’s any blame, it’s on Trudeau for failing to build bridges with Trump.

Smith said she’s counting down the days until Trudeau resigns, opening the door to a new federal Liberal leader who would likely have to face a quick general election.

The Liberals are set to pick a new leader March 9.

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Smith has failed in her diplomatic efforts with Trump and has reverted to talking points that attack Ottawa.

“She is exposing rifts in Canada, which makes us weaker, because she thinks it’ll benefit her politically. There’s no other reason to do it. She’s clearly not actually talking to industry about what they need,” Nenshi said.

Nenshi said while Smith has suggested it’s not fruitful to negotiate in public, that’s what she’s been doing.

“She’s been showing her cards on every single move,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2025.

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press