As the Canada-U.S. trade war heats up, the Alberta government says Premier Danielle Smith will provide an update regarding tariffs on Wednesday.
In a news release Wednesday morning, the province said Smith will “deliver brief remarks addressing the ongoing tariff dispute with the U.S.” at an unrelated news conference in Grande Prairie, Alta., just after 3 p.m. MT. You can watch it here.
Smith has been calling on the federal government to return to the negotiating table with the United States before Canadian tariffs on $27.6-billion worth of U.S. goods take effect in about two weeks.
In a statement posted online Tuesday, Smith said tariffs and counter-tariffs “ultimately risk escalation to even higher and broader tariffs that will impact even more Canadians.”
“There is still time before these counter-tariffs take effect on Sept. 8, and I am urging the federal government to use that time to get back to the negotiating table with the United States,” Smith said in the social media post.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wants Ottawa to resume trade talks with U.S. before counter-tariffs begin
Alberta premier under pressure to take more ‘Team Canada’ approach to escalating U.S. trade war
Political scientist Elizabeth Smythe, professor emeritus at Concordia University of Edmonton, said Alberta’s reliance on the U.S. for the province’s oil exports is driving Smith’s more diplomatic approach to the trade war.
“The U.S. is not going to stop importing those fossil fuels,” Smythe said. “She thinks what she’s doing is the better approach. Now, whether all Albertans agree with that is another story.”
More to come.
