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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Image Credit: EverythingGP Staff/Nathaniel Leigh)
By Nathaniel Leigh
U.S.-Canada trade War

Alberta Premier responds to latest round of U.S. tariffs

Aug 26, 2026 | 5:43 PM

Premier Danielle Smith is against export taxes or curtailment of Alberta’s energy resources in the ongoing trade disputes with the United States.

Speaking at a press conference in Grande Prairie Wednesday, Aug. 26, Smith described the tariffs issued by U.S. President Donald Trump’s Administration as tragic, unjustified, and wholly unnecessary.

But Smith warns taxing Alberta’s oil to the US would be a disastrous decision.

“Doing so would absolutely devastate the Canadian economy,” says Smith. “It would not only extinguish the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of Albertans, it would economically hobble our friends and neighbours in other provinces to the east. The United States would immediately respond with a 50-100 per cent export tariff on oil and natural gas that they export.”

Smith adds the U.S. has oil reserves that Canada does not.

“Although their gasoline prices will increase,” she says. “They will be able to keep them at relatively manageable prices just as they have done through the Iran war. And without strategic oil reserves, Canada has no way to supply Ontario and Quebec with the oil, natural gas, and fuels that they would need in a timely fashion.”

She says we need to fight by continuing to be Canadian and says her government will be working with small and medium-sized businesses to understand the pressures they face, launching an online portal for businesses to provide feedback on the challenges they face, and assembling a new business advisory committee.

“I’ve implemented as well a cabinet committee co-chaired by my Finance Minister Jason Nixon and Jobs, Economy, Trade, and Immigration Minister Joseph Schow,” she says. “My ministers that have impacted industries in their files will also be a part of the committee. And we will be having our first meeting (Thursday, Aug. 27).”

She is calling on her fellow premiers to agree to an equal markup nationwide on all Canadian alcohol products, strengthen trade relationships with new partners, and approve the pipeline to the west coast.

Smith’s press conference was held at Northwestern Polytechnic’s newly opened Skilled Trades Centre in Grande Prairie.

by Nathaniel Leigh