Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she remains focused on a diplomatic solution to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats that he reiterated Thursday while also discounting his country’s need for imported oil, and again musing about Canada becoming the 51st state.
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Trump spoke to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, via video link and said he is looking to address his country’s trade deficit with Canada.
“We’re going to be demanding respect from other nations,” he said. “You can always become a state. And if you’re a state, we won’t have a deficit. We won’t have to tariff you.”
Trump estimated the trade deficit between the two countries as between $200 billion and $ 250 billion although external estimates list America’s trade shortfall with Canada as less than half of the figures cited by the president. Smith has also pointed out that much of that deficit is due to imported oil and gas without which the U.S. would have a trade surplus.
Trump went on to minimize his country’s need for products imported from Canada, including oil.
“We don’t need them to make our cars and they make a lot of them. We don’t need their lumber because we have our forests,” he said.
“We don’t need their oil and gas. We have more than anybody.”
The U.S. is the world’s largest oil producer but many American refineries are also dependent on imported Canadian crude oil.
Earlier in his address, Trump noted he had declared a national energy emergency and planned to expand his country’s energy production.
“It’s so important to unlock the liquid gold under our feet and pave the way for rapid approvals of new energy infrastructure,” he said.
“Not only will this reduce the cost of virtually all goods and services, it’ll make the United States a manufacturing superpower.”
He also called on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to step up production to reduce world oil prices.
“You gotta bring it down,” he told the crowd.
Trump has threatened to impose blanket 25 per cent tariffs on goods imported from Canada as soon as next week while also giving his administration until April 1 to examine other possible means of reducing the U.S.’s trade deficit.
“If you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply you will have to pay a tariff, differing amounts, but a tariff that will direct hundreds of billions of dollars and even trillions of dollars into our treasury to strengthen our economy and pay down debt,” he said Thursday.
Alberta premier goes to Washington, D.C.
Smith returned Thursday from a five-day trip to Washington, D.C., where she continued her strategy of meeting with U.S. lawmakers and private sector leaders to pitch them on Alberta’s energy resources and seek carve-outs for Canada and Alberta.
She has acknowledged Canada must have some response to any tariffs that come into effect and has also pitched increasing oil exports to the U.S.
Smith has also faced some criticism for not standing in line with other premiers in a “Team Canada” approach to addressing the tariff threat, citing her concern over the effects of withholding Alberta energy as a retaliatory measure.
In a statement, her office said she will continue to pursue her strategy of dialogue with the Americans.
“A U.S. tariff will hurt American and Canadian consumers, and we should be focused on developing our trade relationship through diplomacy, not threats,” it states.
She called on the federal government to address issues flagged by Trump around border security and defence spending, adding that Trump’s statements to the WEF do not change her position.
“In a negotiation, both sides will say all kinds of things and use different tactics. It’s important when this happens to remain calm and diplomatic while continuing to carry out Alberta’s and Canada’s strategy.”