REGINA, Sask. — Trade and Export Development Minister Warren Kaeding voiced cautious optimism Monday about several developments on the trade front.
Kaeding was responding in particular to recent reports out of Ottawa that trade talks with the Americans had resumed and might be showing signs of progress.
Asked what the province is looking for in a trade deal, Kaeding said:
“Well, I think a good trade deal is one that supports our industry and supports, you know, those that are buying the products on the other end,” Kaeding said.
“So I'd say we've always been on record that we'd love it to be a tariff-free open trade deal. We'll continue to go down that path, but we want what's best for our producers, our manufacturers here, and we just want to be able to sell more product into the U.S.”
Tuesday, Nov. 3, is U.S. midterm election day, with control of Congress at stake. Kaeding made it known he wanted to see open trade with the U.S. regardless of the election result.
“America is still one of our biggest trading partners, and we really just look forward to having that free and open trade,” Kaeding said. “So regardless of who wins or who's got majority, we just need to make sure that we've got the best possible relationship with one of our biggest trading partners.”
Asked whether the party in power makes a difference, Kaeding said he doesn't think it “really makes a difference to what party is in power.”
“We certainly have a lot of things that we want to have accomplished here in Canada. We talk about our very integrated marketplace that we've got here, whether it's oil and gas, it's potash, it's agriculture, food products. It's going to be the same message, regardless of who's on the other side of the border.”
One issue of importance between the two countries is the possible revival of the Keystone XL pipeline project. Kaeding said officials were “very excited that it's back being discussed on literally both sides of the border.”
“I think any time we've got an additional outlet to move oil out of Saskatchewan is certainly going to enhance our industry, it's going to allow us to get to the production goals that we've set for our producers here, and really gives that sector an opportunity to increase and expand.”
Asked about President Donald Trump's suggestion that Canada would bear the entire cost of the project if it were to go ahead, Kaeding would only say that the province was “very supportive of the pipeline on our side, and that's what you'll probably see from our federal government in the future.”
“I think everyone is just excited, both sides of the border, that it's back on being discussed again. So I think it's a great start that is being talked about publicly, and we look forward to where this goes in the future.”
China and canola still an issue
Beyond the United States, another key trade issue is China's temporary tariff relief for Canadian canola meal, which is scheduled to expire Dec. 31. Kaeding was asked whether there was any news on an extension.
“Well, it's interesting. It wasn't long ago that I was in China, just continuing on the great work that our Premier has done and the Prime Minister has done on kind of rebuilding the relationship we've got with China,” Kaeding said.
“We were very pleased to see the end result of that. And honestly, as we were there talking to industry, they were talking about how supportive they were that the tariffs were reduced and that ultimately it was going to affect the operations of their business. And they were so looking forward to having this continue well into the future. So I think we've got support on both sides of the Chinese-Canadian relationship on that to ensure that we've got those reduced tariffs extended or eliminated, you know, following now.”
As for whether the tariff relief might be extended, Kaeding said the issue had been discussed with federal International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu while in India a couple of weeks earlier. He said the minister “knows how important it is to extend that agreement or even eliminate tariffs.”
“So it's up to our federal government now to ensure that, you know, the needs of this canola sector is being looked at in their discussions with the Chinese. I'm hopeful. I'm a glass-half-full guy, and I'm very hopeful that we're going to continue to see that extended.”
