Energy commodities (including oil, natural gas, coal, electricity, and refined petroleum products) are a significant component of Canada’s trade, accounting for one-fifth of Canada’s total exports in 2016, with nearly all of them going to the United States. Free trade under NAFTA in North America led to significant benefits for Canada in the form of increased trade, significant output and productivity gains in the manufacturing sector, and a greater variety of products available to Canadians. The impacts of NAFTA were also positive for the United States. U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico support nearly 3 million jobs in the United States. However, the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency on a protectionist platform has made the preservation and modernization of NAFTA a top priority.
NAFTA was controversial when it was negotiated and ratified in the early 1990s, and it has remained contentious ever since it came into force in 1994. Its biggest benefit is that it solidified the elimination of most tariffs between Canada and the United States, our largest trading partner. However, in the 2000s, Canadian trade with non-NAFTA partners picked up, significantly outpacing growth with our NAFTA trading partners. These trade gains with non-NAFTA partners were largely made as a result of China joining the World Trade Organization in 2001.
So, is it time for “NAFTA Upgrading” to arrive at “NAFTA 2.0” without caving to US demands for changes that are freer and fairer only the US? Have changing dynamics in the US, exacerbated by Trump’s characterization of NAFTA as “a bad deal for the U.S.A.” and “the worst trade deal ever made” made a meeting of minds over NAFTA impossible? What will be the impact of increased duties in the absence of NAFTA on the Oil and Gas Industry? Will those tariffs make Canadian exports even less competitive than they are now and increase the price of imported goods?
For further discussions of NAFTA negotiations and their implications for the Oil and Gas industry join us for a presentation entitled:
“Leveling the Playing Field – A Discussion of NAFTA Resolutions and the Impact of US Tax and Regulatory Reform on Canadian Competitiveness”
with David McLellan, Principal at Ridgeway Strategic Consulting Ltd. -addressing the key Canada/US trade and tax developments, NAFTA and recent developments in US tax and regulatory reform and Romeo Rojas, Associate at Bennett Jones, specializing in Domestic and International Commercial Arbitration and Investor-State Arbitration who will speak on NAFTA Dispute Resolution and Chapters 11 and 19.
Thursday October 18, 2018 at the Calgary Petroleum Club – 11 15:am to 1.00 pm. Tickets $50.00 members, $60.00 non-members.
Sponsored by BOEReport.com
