Alberta premier says Trump’s hardball tactics are a negotiating style, not a final position
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is urging Canadian negotiators to stop overreacting to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, arguing that panic undermines Canada’s ability to reach a deal that works for both countries.
Speaking Monday as a keynote speaker at the New North America Summit — a forum bringing together leaders to discuss cross-border relations and challenges — Smith offered her read of Trump’s negotiating style based on two personal meetings with the president in 2025.
A Businessman’s Playbook
“He always had a plan A, a plan B and plan C, all of which benefited him,” Smith told the summit. “He has his moon shot, but he also has a ‘this is pretty good’ and then he has an ‘I’ll settle for this.'”
Smith argued that Canada has consistently misread Trump’s opening gambits as final positions. “I don’t think we’ve understood that he always puts his moon shot out there and then we panic and freak out with ads and overwrought commentary — but that is just a negotiating style that he has,” she said.
She expressed cautious optimism that a mutually beneficial outcome remains possible. “I think we’re now beginning to settle down and realize there is a way for us to get to a win-win,” she said, “but the Americans are never going to agree to a deal where they feel they’ve lost ground.”
CUSMA’s Future Uncertain
The stakes are considerable. Trump’s second term has been marked by sweeping and sector-specific tariffs on Canadian goods, and the future of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) — the pact that keeps most North American trade duty-free — remains in doubt.
Trump said last week he is “not looking to renew” the agreement ahead of a July 1 deadline to confirm a 16-year extension. A failure to renew would have significant consequences for Canadian exporters across virtually every sector.
GST a Persistent Irritant
Smith also pointed to Canada’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) as an ongoing source of friction with Washington. She said U.S. officials view the five-per-cent federal sales tax as a de facto tariff on American goods entering Canada.
“Their perspective is every American good that comes across the border the federal government gets a five per cent cut on because of GST,” Smith said. “As long as we have a national sales tax he’s going to want to do something to create some kind of parity.”
The United States has no equivalent national sales tax, which Smith said makes the GST a particular irritant for the Trump administration.
Improved Tone Under Carney
Smith said the Canada-U.S. relationship has improved since Prime Minister Mark Carney took office, contrasting the current dynamic with what she described as the “frayed” relationship between former prime minister Justin Trudeau and Trump over the past decade.
The premier’s comments reflect a broader debate within Canada about how best to manage an unpredictable trading partner that absorbs roughly three-quarters of Canadian exports.
