Ford, Smith vow to fight tariffs but disagree on playing energy card

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OTTAWA — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she would not be following Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s lead in levying energy exports to the U.S., as a full-blown trade war got underway on Tuesday.

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“I’ve already said that we’re not going to retaliate on energy,” Smith said in a Tuesday morning interview on CNBC. “That is such an essential product for American consumers and American businesses.”

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“We’ve got some 4.3 million barrels a day going into the United States. We want to make sure that that flow continues,” said Smith.

Smith’s comments came less than an hour after Ford told the Wall Street Journal that he will put a 25 per cent export tax on electricity Ontario sends to 1.5 million U.S. households in Minnesota, Michigan and New York.

He added that he’d direct the province’s energy producers to cut off exports entirely if U.S. President Donald Trump brings in more tariffs on April 2, when a comprehensive internal review of U.S. trade policy is set to wrap up.

Ford changed his tune slightly at a midday press conference, saying he’s written a letter to the leaders of the three U.S. states, telling them he will immediately apply the 25 per cent electricity surcharge “if the Trump administration follows through on any more tariffs.”

He wouldn’t give an exact date when the electricity levy would come into effect, when pressed by reporters.

Quebec Premier François Legault said he wouldn’t rule out following in Ford’s footsteps if the tariffs continued.

“When I say that we should not exclude anything for the future, that includes what we can do or will do with electricity,” Legault told reporters.

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“It is not something that we are looking at in the short term… but we have nothing to exclude.”

Ford also announced on Tuesday, that effective immediately, Ontario would be pulling all U.S. products from LCBO shelves and ripping up its contract with Elon Musk-owned satellite internet provider Starlink.

He added that Kingston, Ont.’s Queen’s University should be “embarrassed” to call Musk an alumnus.

Ford said he’d spoken to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe about leveraging Saskatchewan’s potash and critical minerals against the Americans.

“You know, Donald Trump wants to go after our dairy farmers without potash down there, they don’t have a farming system,” said Ford.

“I will encourage (Moe) to ship uranium anywhere,” added Ford.

“Everyone wants his uranium.”

Moe said in a statement that he was carefully considering Saskatchewan’s next move, adding that Canada’s response to the tariffs must be “economically sound and reasoned.”

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Smith didn’t announce any specific retaliatory measures but vowed to fight the unlawful tariffs, which she noted were a violation of the CUSMA free trade deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

“I don’t know why the president is behaving this way because it’s illegal,” said Smith.

“We’re going to challenge it.”

Smith said in a statement on X that she fully supported the federal response announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and would have more to say on Wednesday.

She told CNBC she was disappointed with Trump’s actions, after working with his team in good faith over the past four months.

“We’ve addressed every issue that was raised about the border… and yet new issues keep on popping up, which suggests we’ve got a president that actually doesn’t want a deal,” said Smith.

“And that’s the problem.”

Trump’s long-threatened 25 per cent tariff on most imports from Canada and Mexico came into effect at 12:01 AM ET on Tuesday, with a smaller 10 per cent tariff placed on energy.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston also spoke out against the tariffs on Tuesday morning, promising a raft of retaliatory measures targeting U.S. businesses, commercial vehicles and goods.

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“Donald Trump is a short-sighted man who wields his power just for the sake of it,” Houston wrote on social media platform X.

Multiple provinces, including Nova Scotia, Quebec and Manitoba, announced they were taking American alcohol off their shelves.

British Columbia Premier David Eby put his own twist on the booze ban, saying it would only apply to product imported from Republican-voting red states.

“This is a deliberate decision to target red state liquor products,” said Eby.

“We understand who’s attacking us.”

National Post
rmohamed@postmedia.com

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