Ottawa — Trade Minister David Emerson suggested the United States has a sweet deal over access to Canada's oil under the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying the two Democratic presidential candidates calling for renegotiations may not know just how good the U.S. has it under the deal.
Mr. Emerson said Wednesday that reopening the three-country trade deal would not be a one way street and that Canada also has its list of concessions it would seek if the continental pact was renegotiated.
“There's no doubt if NAFTA were to be reopened we would want to have our list of priorities,” Mr. Emerson said.
“Knowledgeable observers would have to take note of the fact that we are the largest supplier of energy to the U.S. and NAFTA has been the foundation for integrating the North American energy market. When people get below the rhetoric and pick away at the details, they are going to find it's not such a slam dunk proposition.”
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Mr. Emerson did not say Canada would insist on putting access to Canadian oil back on the table, but that provision in the deal has been a major concern to Canadian critics who argue that Canada would not be able to claim preferential treatment in a crisis.
Under the trade agreement, Canada is prohibited from cutting off oil exports to the United States if there is a worldwide shortage or supply disruption unless supplies are also rationed to Canadian consumers by the same amount.
Earlier Wednesday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Ms. Clinton and Mr. Obama may be misinformed about NAFTA.
“NAFTA is of tremendous benefit to Americans, and perhaps the nominees have not had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the benefit to Americans and the American economy of NAFTA, because there's a tendency to say ‘it favours Mexico, or it favours Canada,' rather than to recognize the mutual benefits that come out of free trade,” he said after a speech in Toronto.
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