Alberta halting U.S. liquor imports, no change to energy exports in tariff response
Posted Mar 5, 2025 10:16 am.
Last Updated Mar 5, 2025 7:31 pm.
The Alberta government is halting the purchase of American goods, including cutting off liquor imports, but will not allow export tariffs on oil as Premier Danielle Smith outlines the province’s response to U.S. tariffs.
Smith was flanked by a group of her cabinet ministers Wednesday afternoon in Medicine Hat where she announced plans to combat what she calls U.S. President Donald Trump’s “unjustified” and illegal tariffs on most Canadian exports.
“This economic attack on our country, combined with Mr. Trump’s continued talk of using economic force to facilitate the annexation of our country has broken trust between our two nations in a profound way,” says Smith.
Trump followed through on his threat to hit Canada and Mexico with sweeping economy-wide tariffs on Tuesday –10 per cent on energy and 25 per cent on all other goods. He granted a one-month exemption for the Big Three automakers — Stellantis, Ford and General Motors — on Wednesday.
In response, the Alberta government and all of the province’s municipalities will stop buying U.S. goods and only purchase domestically, or from countries where Canada has an “honoured free trade agreement,” according to Smith.
The premier says she is also directing the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) to cease buying American alcohol or VLTS until further notice.
“We’ll just have to drink a bit more B.C. wine and Alberta craft beer and spirits, and that’s fine with us,” Smith says.
The premier touted Alberta’s energy industry and says she won’t reduce or tariff oil and gas exports to the U.S., instead focusing on doubling the province’s oil production and look to export it elsewhere.
Smith says taxing energy exports would only hurt Canadian consumers because the U.S. would respond in kind.
WATCH: ‘Buying Canadian’ might be harder for some grocers
Alberta’s response will instead include asking grocers and retailers to buy local, or purchase stock from countries other than the U.S., and improve labelling on products. Smith says an advertising campaign is coming that will aim to direct Albertans on where they can get information on where products come from.
There are no plans to bring in new aid programs for businesses or workers impacted by tariffs, but Smith says they are listening to feedback on that. She says an upcoming income tax cut will help families.
She also says she wants to open up trade with other provinces and is willing to enter into free trade with any that are willing to do so.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat things, the road ahead is very bumpy,” Smith said. “If these tariffs continue for months or longer there will be significant job losses, higher inflation and lost opportunity, and large budget deficits.”
NDP, Calgary mayor say province’s response falls short
Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek also spoke on Wednesday and says she is relieved the province has taken some action, but believes they need to do more.
Gondek referenced the $4 billion contingency that was included in the provincial budget and wondered what the plan is for that fund.
“We heard the minister of finance tell our city last Friday that there is no plan,” says Gondek. “It’s a wait-and-see approach until there are possibly welfare lines due to the tariffs.”
“That’s too late and we don’t have the luxury of time.”
WATCH: Gondek calls for business solutions amid trade war
NDP leader Naheed Nenshi gave Smith credit for taking a tougher tone with Trump, but says she is still capitulating by beefing up the border and talking about brand new pipelines that won’t get built in her political lifetime.
He says Smith took a full 24 hours to act compared to other premiers who took action right away.
“For months, she genuinely believed that if she promised Kevin O’Leary the sun and the moon and the stars in return for a golden ticket to Mar-a-Lago she’d get 10 seconds with Trump and convince him his entire economic policy was wrong,” says Nenshi.
“Of course, that had no chance of success.”
Smith made headlines in January when she refused to sign a joint statement from all other premiers and the prime minister to use export taxes on Canadian energy as a leveraging tool against the tariff threat. The same month, she travelled south for a face-to-face meeting with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
Canada responded with immediate countermeasures to the tariffs on Tuesday, imposing 25 per cent retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of American products, with the levy set to expand to cover another $125 billion in U.S. goods in 21 days.
Smith appeared on CNBC News Tuesday saying she fully supports the feds response.
Other provinces have announced their own plans to fight back by pulling American liquor and banning American businesses from bidding on provincial contracts.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday morning he expects Trump will make an announcement regarding the tariffs at some point on Wednesday.
With files from The Canadian Press
