Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says China’s latest trade measures against Canada are part of a strategy meant to divide the country for the benefit of Beijing.
“I think the Chinese have been very targeted and direct in how they’re trying to split our country up,” Smith said at an unrelated
press conference on May 1, when asked about measures her government was taking to protect canola producers in the province.
“I can tell you that all of the western premiers who have a large canola industry in their provinces, and that is regardless of political stripe, have raised it directly with the prime minister.”
China
imposed tariffs on Canadian agricultural products in March in an apparent retaliation to 100 percent levies Canada applied on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) last year. Beijing’s measures included 100 percent duties on Canadian canola oil, oil cakes, and pea imports, as well as 25 percent levies on Canadian seafood and pork.
The move came at a time when the United States was ramping up tariffs on countries around the world, saying it wants to level the playing field, while cautioning them against retaliatory tariffs. At the same time, U.S. officials have
emphasized that countries should align with the United States against China on tariffs.
Smith had made similar remarks about what she described as China’s retaliatory actions during a March fundraising
event in Edmonton, where she was also asked about her province’s support for canola farmers.
“This is how strategic China has been,” she said. “China is responding to the fact that we matched the tax on electric vehicles 100 percent by not taxing electric vehicles, but by taxing food.
“So they know that they’re pitting one region of our country against the other.”
On several occasions, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has
called on the federal government to address Chinese tariffs, arguing that Ottawa has not responded to Beijing’s levies with the same urgency as it has to U.S. tariffs. Canada has
imposed roughly $60 billion worth of counter-tariffs on American goods.
“Whether or not you agree with the federal govt’s response to US trade actions, there is no doubt they have taken action and reacted quickly, as they should,” Moe said in a March 11 social media
post.
“But when it’s an exclusively western Canadian industry like canola under attack from Chinese tariffs… crickets.”
Ottawa has
called China’s levies “unjustified,” and has vowed to “stand shoulder-to-shoulder” in its support for the farmers and fishers affected by the measures. The latest Beijing tariffs on Canada
stem from a domestic “anti-discrimination” investigation the regime said it initiated last September.
Then-Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said on March 12 that Ottawa would keep its tariffs on China following Beijing’s apparent retaliation, saying Canada would “never be a back door to cheap Chinese vehicle[s].”
Two days after Chinese tariffs took effect on March 20, Ottawa
announced financial support for the agricultural sector by increasing compensation through AgriStability, a program designed to help producers manage income declines.
Moe
reiterated his call for federal action on removing Chinese tariffs, as well as U.S. levies on Canadian products, during a May 1 conversation with Mark Carney following Carney
’s election as prime minister on April 28.
At the May 1 press conference, Smith described the trade tensions with China as “a bit of a phony war,” noting that instead of targeting Canada’s electric vehicles to match Ottawa’s actions, China responded by targeting food exports.
“We’ve got a 100 percent tax on EV vehicles from China that no one is buying in order to protect an EV industry in Ontario that doesn’t exist, and in return, we are seeing punishment on pork and canola in our western provinces, which are product people do want,” she said.
Winning the AI Race
During her May 1 address, where she
announced legal action against Ottawa’s net-zero electricity regulations, Smith said Canada’s failure to fully develop its energy sector could hurt North America’s chances of achieving energy dominance and give China an edge.
“I think we have to be very clear about what happens if China wins the race to manufacture intelligence—that is what [artificial intelligence] is. We cannot allow China to win that race,” Smith said.
“That has to be a race that we win in the free countries of the world—in North America, in particular—and we have the ability to do that.”
The premier was asked for her thoughts on other countries continuing to build coal-fired power plants while Ottawa promotes carbon capture and storage.
In her response, she noted Beijing’s case, arguing Canada should not underestimate “why China is bringing on coal-fired electricity.” China’s construction of coal-fired power plants last year
reached its highest level in a decade, according to a recent
report.
“They’re building coal plants on spec in anticipation they will need that power to fuel the AI data race,” Smith said.
The premier
made similar remarks earlier this year while advocating for tariff-free trade between Canada and the United States.
During the Jan. 25 episode of her bi-weekly phone-in radio show, “Your Province, Your Premier,” Smith said Canada could position itself as a key ally in helping the United States achieve dominance in energy and artificial intelligence and win the race against China.
“Make no mistake, China is a totalitarian communist regime. If they win the AI war, then it’s going to be changing the planet,” Smith said.
“We should be aligned with jurisdictions that believe in democracy and believe in freedom.”
