Danielle Smith echoes Doug Ford's concerns about Mexico trade, hopes for 'carve out'
CTV
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is echoing concerns about Mexico that were expressed earlier this week by Ontario's premier, saying she hopes Canada can get a "carve-out" from import tariffs that president-elect Donald Trump is promising.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is echoing concerns about Mexico that were expressed earlier this week by Ontario's premier, saying she hopes Canada can get a "carve-out" from import tariffs that president-elect Donald Trump is promising.
Smith told her provincewide radio call-in program Saturday that advice she received from Robert Lighthizer, Trump's former trade chief, was that governments north of the border should take a "Canada first" approach, noting Mexico was inviting investment from China.
She said that was undercutting the manufacturing sector in both the U.S. and Canada.
Ford on Tuesday issued a statement saying that since signing on to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Mexico has allowed itself to become a back door for Chinese cars, auto parts and other products into Canadian and American markets.
He later told reporters at an unrelated news conference that he's proposing the Canadian government make its own a bilateral trade deal with the U.S., and if Mexico then wants to make a separate deal with Canada, "God bless them."
Smith said Saturday that a 10-per-cent tariff, which Trump has promised for all imports when he becomes president in January, would be very damaging to Canada and she's already been speaking with other premiers and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland about it.
"And so my advice is, as is Doug's, is let's take a Canada-first approach and let's see if we can get a carve-out for all of Canada, because we do have balanced trade with the United States," Smith told her radio audience.
