Two Western premiers are drawing a red line against weaponizing Canada’s natural resources, warning export levies against the U.S. could blow back spectacularly at home.
An export tariff, or a tax on goods and resources leaving a country, is typically paid by the exporter.
Though relatively rare, governments can use them to raise revenue, preserve domestic supply or encourage more processing at home before products are exported.
But for Premiers Scott Moe and Danielle Smith, the former does not sound enticing.
“We as a province cannot and will not support any kind of export tariff on our natural resources,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said Wednesday.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith followed suit, calling export levies “a disastrous policy decision.”
“Doing so would absolutely devastate the Canadian economy,” she adds.
