TORONTO (AP) — Alberta’s premier responded Wednesday to President-elect Donald Trump’s trolling of Canada by saying the trade deficit with the country is due to billions in raw materials being sent south, creating trillions in wealth creates in America.
Trump said the United States is “subsidizing” Canada and threatening a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods.
“Nobody can answer why we subsidize Canada to the tune of over $100,000,000 a year? It doesn’t make sense!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. “Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st state. They would save enormously on taxes and military protection. I think it’s a great idea. 51st state!!!”
Trusted news and daily treats, straight to your inbox
See for yourself: The Yodel is the source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories.
The premier of oil-rich Alberta, Danielle Smith, ignored Trump’s latest “51st state” trolls and tried to answer his question.
“Fair question about the trade deficit with Canada, Mr. President @realDonaldTrump – the reason for this is that Canada (especially Alberta) is sending billions of raw materials (oil, gas, minerals, grain, livestock, lumber, etc.) to your US refineries and factories that upgrading your major American companies and employees and selling all over the world, including back to Canada (we are by far your largest customer),” Smith wrote on X.
Alberta sends 4.3 million barrels of oil and gas to the US every day.
Smith said millions of American jobs and businesses depend “on these affordable commodities from Canada to generate trillions of dollars of wealth in your country.”
About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports and 85% of U.S. electricity imports come from Canada.
Canada’s ambassador to Washington, Kirsten Hillman, has said the U.S. had a $75 billion trade deficit with Canada last year. But she noted that a third of what Canada sells to the U.S. is energy exports and said there is a shortage when oil prices are high.
“We are one-tenth the size of the United States, so a balanced trade deal would mean that we buy ten times more from the US per capita than they buy from us. If that is his benchmark, we will certainly address that,” Hillman recently told The AP.
Smith said she will attend Trump’s inauguration. Her comments come a day after Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Trump’s plan to impose sweeping 25% tariffs on all Canadian products would be a “disaster” that would hurt U.S. stock markets.
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the US and has 34 crucial minerals and metals coveted by the Pentagon.
Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian dollars ($2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border every day. Canada is the main export destination for 36 US states.
