Premier Danielle Smith has called on her counterparts and Ottawa to have a proportional response to U.S. tariffs. Eli J. Ridder/CHAT News

By Eli J. Ridder

TRADE WAR

Premier Smith calls for urgent ministers meeting amid U.S. trade war

Mar 11, 2025 | 2:43 PM

Premier Danielle Smith is calling for an urgent meeting with her counterparts and the prime minister to discuss the Canada-U.S. trade war amid hopes there is chance of talks that could lead to de-escalation.

Smith said Ottawa and her counterparts should respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened and imposed tariffs in a “proportional and level-headed manner.”

Her statement, posted to X, comes as Ontario pauses a surcharge on electricity exports to the United States after a U.S. official offered an “olive branch” in the form of free trade talks.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick invited Ontario Premier Doug Ford and federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc to the U.S. capital Thursday to discuss a renewal of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on trade ahead of Trump’s April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline.

In exchange, Ford agreed to suspend the electricity surcharge.

“Both parties are heated and the temperature needs to come down and I thought this was the right decision,” Ford said after the call.

“I believe when someone’s putting out an olive branch, we sit back, we accept it — graciously, by the way — thank him for that opportunity, and let’s start moving.”

Smith, who has warned against any sort of levy on Alberta energy exports to the U.S., said a trade war puts millions of Canadian jobs at stake.

“We owe it to Canadian families to find a solution that results in all tariffs being lifted on both sides of the border as soon as possible,” she added in her post.

Despite the invitation to Ford, the U.S. said 25 per cent levies on steel and aluminum will move ahead Wednesday.

Smith is currently in U.S. as part of an effort to attract industry to Alberta and promote a deescalation of tariffs.

Last week, Smith put a halt on provincial purchases of U.S. goods, alcohol and gambling machines as part of her government’s response to the levies.

She has consistently advocated Canada not place tariffs on Alberta’s oil and gas exports.