Premier Danielle Smith says Alberta will do everything it can to reverse tariffs

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U.S. President Donald Trump delivered on his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods Saturday, triggering a trade dispute that Alberta’s premier says will “harm Canadians and Americans alike.”

The move, to take effect Tuesday, will slap a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods entering the United States, with a reduced 10 per cent duty for energy.

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Premier Danielle Smith, who vowed to work with Ottawa on a federal response while continuing her own diplomatic efforts in the U.S., was among those expressing disappointment while warning of the economic fallout.

“This decision will harm Canadians and Americans alike and strain the important relationship and alliance between our two nations,” Smith said in a statement.

“Alberta will do everything in its power to convince the U.S. President and Congress, as well as the American people, to reverse this mutually destructive policy.”

Analysts have said the policy could wipe off billions of dollars from the Canadian economy, strip many of employment and throw the country into a recession.

“When you look at the cross-border trade, I think the dependency on the trade flows north and south,” said Calgary Chamber of Commerce president Deborah Yedlin.

“You’re talking energy, you’re talking agriculture, you’re talking inputs, you’re talking small businesses, you’re talking large companies. There’s nobody that’s not going to be affected by this, and it doesn’t need to happen.”

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Smith said Alberta will work with the federal government and other provinces on a “proportionate” response to the American tariffs through the strategic use of Canadian import tariffs on some U.S. goods that can be purchased from Canada and non-American suppliers.

“This will minimize costs to Canadian consumers while creating maximum impact south of the border. All funds raised from such import tariffs should go directly to benefit the Canadians most harmed by the imposed U.S. tariffs,” she said.

“Alberta will, however, continue to strenuously oppose any effort to ban exports to the U.S. or to tax our own people and businesses on goods leaving Canada for the United States. Such tactics would hurt Canadians far more than Americans.”

Smith did not indicate she’s preparing any specific provincial retaliatory measures as other premiers, including Ontario’s Doug Ford and David Eby in B.C., have vowed.

Calgary Economic Development CEO Brad Parry said the announced tariffs bring additional challenges for local manufacturers and small business.

“These sweeping tariffs will disrupt supply chains, increase business costs and inject instability into our economy,” Parry said in a statement. “Alberta’s manufacturing, agriculture and export-driven industries — already navigating economic headwinds — will face further uncertainty, making it harder for companies to compete and grow.

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“Small businesses, which make up almost 95 per cent of Calgary’s business environment, would be particularly vulnerable.”

While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a Canadian response to the tariffs, Yedlin advocated for Ottawa to de-escalate the situation.

“I would say retaliations should be the option of last resort, not first resort,” she said.

“There are a lot of things that are going to get very expensive, and people won’t be able to buy them. This comes at a time when we want to see interest rates continue to come down, and it’s going to make it challenging for consumers across the board.”

The executive order signed by Trump includes a retaliation clause that says if Canada responds with duties on American products the levies could be increased.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) said it was “deeply disappointed” by Trump’s decision.

“These tariffs undermine our mutually beneficial relationship and are likely to increase costs and inflation for American consumers while damaging the economies of both countries,” CAPP president Lisa Baiton said in a statement.

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Baiton said the complexity of North American and global oil and natural markets makes it difficult to predict how the 10 per cent tariff on Canadian oil and gas will impact supply, demand and trade patterns.

“What we do know is that Canadian producers have demonstrated they are innovative and resilient and will find the best ways to mitigate the impact of tariffs and realign themselves to thrive in a dynamic global market,” she said.

Mark Scholz, president of the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors, added: “Any compromise to the Canada-U.S. trading relationship will disproportionately affect our energy services workers and the communities where they live.”

Smith said the lower 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy is in part due to the efforts of her government and Alberta industry leaders in the United States.

Those diplomatic efforts will continue, even with the tariffs about to take effect, she said.

“I encourage all premiers and federal officials to do the same, especially as the effects of these tariffs begin to take their toll south of the border,” her statement reads. “Americans need to understand the detrimental consequences of this policy decision.”

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Three Alberta cabinet ministers — Nathan Neudorf, Adriana LaGrange and Dan Williams — are to attend the U.S. National Prayer Breakfast and related events in Washington, D.C., next week.

The chamber’s Yedlin welcomed the lower levy on energy products but added that damage would be inflicted nevertheless.

“It runs the risk of so many things in terms of decreased production, decreased flows,” she said.

“So that affects Calgary, and it also affects all the small businesses that are tied to the energy sector, all the contractors, you know, the businesses that support the camps.”

Gil McGowan, leader of the Alberta Federation of Labour, stressed the threat of layoffs and rising unemployment the tariffs present. Like Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, he also ventured the province’s energy sector didn’t get a better deal because of Smith’s attempts to carve out an exemption.

Instead, he argued Canadian crude will be taxed less because the U.S. heavily relies on the product.

“That means that we have leverage,” he said. “The question is, will our premier use that leverage to join Team Canada and help all Canadians fight back against Trump’s bully tactics, or will she do an unearned victory lap and continue her policy of grovelling appeasement to Trump?”

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Trump has cited illegal migration and drug trafficking as reasons for the tariffs, railing against Canada for allowing copious amounts of fentanyl and other drugs into the United States.

American border officials seized only 43 pounds of fentanyl at its northern border in the 2024 fiscal year, which amounts to 0.2 percent of the volume confiscated at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to data by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The RCMP began patrolling the Alberta-U.S. border with a Black Hawk helicopter on Tuesday.

The Alberta government announced a series of stricter border measures in December, including the creation of a special team that includes 51 uniformed officers, four drug patrol dogs and 10 drones. It also established a two-kilometre-deep “critical border zone,” where sheriffs will have the authority to arrest people — without needing a warrant — attempting to illegally cross the border or traffic illegal drugs or weapons.

With files from The Canadian Press

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