The Alaska House of Representatives is asking the Trump administration and Canadian government to step back from a brewing trade war.
In a 33-4 vote Monday, the House approved a resolution saying that state lawmakers oppose “restrictive trade measures or tolls that would harm the unique relationship between Canada and Alaska or negatively affect our integrated economies.”
If approved by the Alaska Senate, the resolution would be sent to national officials in both the United States and Canada.
Monday’s vote comes amid continued threats by the Trump administration against the government of Canada, including claims that Canada should be “the 51st state.”
The Trump administration has prepared a large number of tariffs against Canadian imports, and the Canadian government has preemptively enacted retaliatory measures.
In British Columbia, the government has introduced legislation that could lead to tolls on traffic traveling between Alaska and the Lower 48.
“In a time when there’s much global uncertainty, Alaska is speaking with the voice that is — in one sense pleading between our two greatest powers, our government — the United States — and the Canadian government, to come together, to work together amicably, to resolve the tariff situation in a way that shows the respect for territorial sovereignty of both nations, and in a way that recognizes how urgently we need this relationship,” said House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage.
Alaska annually exports almost $600 million in goods to Canada while importing more than $750 million from the country, the resolution states. At least 20,300 Alaska jobs rely on ties to Canada, it says.
Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, noted that Alaska and Canada have social and cultural ties that predate the creation of either country, with Indigenous communities stretching across what is now an international border.
“If we take care to acknowledge — if we continue to exercise mutual respect, support and cooperation, we can more easily resolve the disputes that might arise, and continue to enjoy the manifest benefits of our relationship between Alaska and our good neighbor, Canada,” said Rep. Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River.
None of the lawmakers who voted against the resolution spoke on the House floor about their decision. After the vote, Rep. Bill Elam, R-Nikiski and one of the “no” voters, said he didn’t think it was appropriate for a state legislature to be dabbling in foreign affairs.
HJR 11 has not yet been set for a hearing in the Senate; a similarly written companion resolution is in the Senate Rules Committee.
• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.
