The Government of Alberta’s online portal for supporting businesses impacted by incoming U.S. tariffs officially launched Friday. Premier Danielle Smith announced the tool last week as a way to gather information that would inform how her government responds to tariff threats. Business owners are encouraged to share their input using the online form. The feedback will then “help identify sector-specific effects of U.S. tariffs and Canadian retaliatory measures, including changes to costs, investment decisions, market access, competitiveness, employment and supply chains,” according to a media release from the province. The U.S. is set to impose 50-per-cent tariffs on a range of Canadian goods on Sept. 8. Canada is responding in kind with dollar-for-dollar tariffs on the same day. Some of Alberta’s largest industries, energy and beef cattle, are so far unaffected, but $1.5 billion worth of the province’s exports to the south will still be hit. The Alberta government has also established a cabinet committee of affected ministries in order to coordinate a provincial tariff response, the media release noted.
