'Time to put emotions aside': Alberta's case against retaliatory tariffs

Vancouver Sun

04-05-2025

'American ranchers and farmers are definitely a large part of the base that elected President Trump,' says Alberta's minister of agriculture and irrigation, RJ Sigurdson.
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And, Sigurdson tells me, this is what they're telling him: 'Listen, we have provided a runway for the president to tackle and move forward with his strategy related to tariff inequities.' But as farmers move into their planting season, they're also saying, time is running out, 'that runway is getting very, very short.' Farmers were able to defer decision-making, until now; it's planting season and choices about whether to plant, what to plant and how many acres to plant, have to be made.
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I wanted to talk to Sigurdson about what this tariff blitz means for farmers and ranchers on this side of the Canada-U.S. border. In 2019, Sigurdson was first elected as MLA for Highwood in southern Alberta, and two years ago, Premier Danielle Smith moved him into cabinet.
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'Is that a cow on your lapel?' I ask him. 'Yes, it's a Canadian cow,' he chuckles, 'a pin from the Canadian Cattle Association.' Obviously attuned to the Team Canada vibe gaining traction across the country, Sigurdson — in his green jacket and plaid shirt — has strategically planted himself between a Canadian and Alberta flag on the screen in front of me.
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We're in a trade war and agriculture is a pawn. Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum make input costs higher for farmers, ranchers and agri-food producers, and exports have been clobbered. In the short term, that affects food affordability. Longer term — with global food demand predicted to rise between 65 to 85 per cent by 2050 — food security may be an issue.
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Although Trump is attempting to rewire America's relationship with pretty much the entire world, tariffs and retaliatory tariffs — threatened, in place and paused — stacking up between America, China and Canada are particularly onerous. In some cases, tariffs have become de facto trade embargoes; case in point being the 125 per cent retaliatory tariff on U.S. exports to China imposed after Trump announced a whopping 145 per cent tariff on Chinese imports.
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The Chinese tariffs 'have a lot of sting for farmers,' Sigurdson reports. 'China is our largest market,' he explains, 'just behind the U.S. overall, when it comes to agri-exports.' In response to Canada's punishing tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, China imposed retaliatory tariffs on Canadian agricultural exports.
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'You know,' Sigurdson reflects, 'when Ottawa made the decision to put tariffs on EVs from China, that was a bit of a move. I do believe they were trying to protect the automotive industry, and to back some of the changes made by the U.S.'