EDMONTON — Premier Danielle Smith says the key to fighting against US tariffs is not to tell Americans how the trade war hurts Canadians, but how the dispute will hurt them. "I think some of the language around 'Don't do this because it hurts me,' that's not going to put leverage on the U.S," said Smith when speaking at the Alberta Industrial Heartland Association conference on Thursday. "It's, 'Don't do this because it's going to hurt you. It's going to hurt your consumers. It's going to hurt your businesses,' and get those advocates speaking up on our behalf." .Smith spoke about the current state of Canada's trade war with the US and said that although she is not at the trade table, she believes a key breakdown in negotiations was issues and confusion over which vehicles would fall under the agreement. "I'm just looking at what I'm seeing in the media," Smith said. "I think things fell off the table because Howard Lutnick, who's the secretary responsible for those key areas, came in at the last minute and upset the agreement that we thought we had, and it's been kind of clear about it.""He thought F350s and F450s were dump trucks. So I sent a picture, 'This is a pickup truck.'" .Tensions between Canada and the US have escalated in recent weeks as the two sides have ceased negotiations and begun exchanging tariffs. Smith strongly opposes Canada imposing retaliatory tariffs on the US, but she understands the dispute is emotional and that America has unexpectedly targeted some key Canadian industries. The premier has urged Canadian and American negotiators to resume discussions and move toward a new trade agreement, and though they have not yet resumed formal talks, she believes the lines of communication are open. She thinks the US is largely concerned that discounted Chinese metals are being used to build auto parts in Canada, putting American manufacturers at a disadvantage. Smith said she thinks that if Canada can negotiate its way to the lowest American auto tariffs in the world and an additional discount for US content, then an agreement will come. .In the meantime, Smith said the key to limiting the trade war's damage is to get American voices fighting for Canada. She believes that approach has been key to Alberta's economy remaining largely unaffected by the US's tariffs. “The governors of the states that receive a lot of Alberta oil for refining, we have had them advocate," Smith said. "We had the American Petroleum Institute advocate on our behalf.""We've had our two great pipeline companies who do a lot of work in both administrations, TC and Enbridge, advocate on our behalf. That is more impactful on the US administration than anything I can say."
