The monkey’s paw has curled for Danielle Smith: there’s finally a genuine conflict of interest between Canada’s west and east, and all she has to do to be on Team Alberta is argue that you deserve a cheaper electric car.

That’s because on Thursday, Canada’s canola exports were hit with a punishing 75.8% tariff—not by Donald Trump, but by China.

It’s tit for tat for Canada’s tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), steel and aluminum, which the feds imposed last October, following the lead of the United States and the European Union. They and the feds accuse China of trying to corner the world EV market by unfairly subsidizing the cars and making them too cheap.

Canada produces about 30 per cent of the world’s canola and sends much of it to China. About 14,000 workers in Alberta are employed in canola production, says industry group the Alberta Canola Producers Commission, which in turn is about a third of Canada’s total.

Estimates put the entire country’s ranks of workers in EV manufacturing at less than 10,000, and despite receiving billions in subsidies, the industry is struggling to stand on its own legs. Canada only built around 25,000 EVs last year. By contrast, Mexico built 220,000.

Smith denounced the tariffs on Twitter and is calling for the feds to take immediate action.

But you’ve got to imagine the call sticking in her throat a bit. Electric vehicles have been a frequent punching bag for the right, both rhetorically and legally. Just a few months ago, the UCP slapped an extra fee on EVs that the Electric Vehicle Association of Alberta called a “political stunt.”