Smith ‘remains focused’ on making deals with U.S. amid tariff threats

Premier Danielle Smith speaks to the media at the Legislature in Edmonton, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith doesn’t want a spat between the Canadian prime minister and the U.S. president to take away the focus from finding a way to make a trade deal that satisfies both countries.

Saturday morning on her radio program Your Premier, Your Province, Smith took calls on any topic only hours after Trump, responding to the news that Canada will be importing 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles with low 6.1 per cent tariffs, erupted.

Trump revived one of his most pointed insults toward Canada on Saturday, calling Prime Minister Mark Carney “governor” and threatening to slam the country with a 100 per cent tariff over its growing ties with China.

In a post to Truth Social, Trump accused Carney of trying to turn Canada into a “Drop off port” for Chinese exports into the United States.

Currently, the U.S. has a 35 per cent tariff on all Canadian imports that do not comply with CUSMA “rules of origin” requirements and a 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum imports, among others.

“If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken,” Trump wrote.

“China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life. If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100 per cent tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Smith wasn’t asked by anyone about Trump’s latest threat, but one caller from Calgary asked if she’d spoken to the U.S. president since a visit to Mar-a-Lago early in January 2025.

She said she hadn’t, but Alberta’s Washington, D.C. envoy Nathan Cooper, has been speaking to a lot of companies about possible projects involving investment in Alberta -- and that was her primary focus.

“Notwithstanding the strained relationship between the two top leaders, this is just working and getting things done,” she said.

“Those who are responsible for trying to secure projects, they’re working to get things done – and that’s what I’m going to keep doing – I’m encouraged by the fact that we have 97 per cent of our products that are tariff-free,“ she said. ”I hope we can keep it that way – but we would love to see a broader, comprehensive deal that is good for all of Canada."

She reiterated her trade focus at the top of the show when host Wayne Nelson asked her to respond to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s comments about the Alberta separatist movement.

“I would say that Canada is a great partner for the United States on all fronts and we always have been and that’s the position that we’ve taken, that’s the position I take when I speak with U.S. officials.

“It’s the position I take when I talk with the U.S. ambassador is: Let’s maintain the Canada -U.S. -Mexico trade agreement as it is and then let’s work on getting resolution on the areas where there’s disputes.

“I mean the areas, when you look at Alberta, 97 per cent of our goods cross the border tariff-free. The areas where there’s a problem - aluminum, steel, autos, softwood lumber, pharmaceuticals, digital - let’s get to the table and start negotiating on those particular issues as opposed to thinking that there’s something wrong with the (CUSMA) deal as a whole.”

In his initial comments following the announcement of the Canada-China deal, Trump reacted positively.

“That’s OK,” Trump said, as he left the White House on Jan. 16 “That’s what he should be doing. It’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal,” Trump said. “If you can get a deal with China, you should do that.”

With files from CTV’s Lynn Chaya and ctvnews.ca