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Where President-elect Trump sees a rivalry, Canada sees a potential friend.
America’s neighbor to the north this week is proposing an energy and minerals partnership with the US, Canadian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told The Hill on Tuesday.
“We’ve also essentially created the idea of an energy and minerals partnership that actually has a number of projects that can be of direct benefit to the United States,” he said in a telephone interview.
Wilkinson added that this could involve Canada “accelerating production in Canada of gallium and germanium,” which have defense applications and of which China. recently banned shipments to the US
He said the partnership could also be extended to oil and nuclear power.
“There is an opportunity for us to create a nuclear fuel cycle that is completely independent here in North America, where Canada provides the uranium, but the enrichment is done in the United States,” Wilkinson said.
“There is more that we can do with the existing infrastructure to provide more oil to the United States, which allows it to export more oil around the world, which gives it more geopolitical leverage,” he added.
His openness comes just as Trump is asking for a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian and Mexican products, saying the two countries are not doing enough to improve border security and prevent fentanyl from entering the U.S.
One product that could be particularly affected is oil, as offered by Canada 52 percent of American oil imports.
Wilkinson warns that a potential oil tariff will hurt both Americans and Canadians.
“This is something that will create pain in Canada, there’s no question, but it will also create economic pain in the United States,” he said, projecting that it would raise US gas prices by 75 cents a gallon.
“I think it’s a lose-lose for both Canada and the United States,” he added.
An oil consultant gave The Hill a more conservative number last month: estimating the surcharge could amount to about 40 cents per gallon.
Wilkinson, visiting Washington, DC this week, is trying to convince the US not to put tariffs on Canadian oil. He meets with senators, including Sens. Kevin Cramer (RND) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who come from major oil-producing states.
In an effort to assuage Trump’s concerns, Wilkinson said Canada has already announced a major border package.
“We actually agree that more can be done on the border on both sides,” he said.
He also rejected Trump’s suggestion that Canada could become the 51st US state.
“Canada is a sovereign country,” he said. “We’re quite different.”
“We have two different languages which are French and English. We have parliamentary institutions. Our national game is ice hockey and we go to Tim Hortons, not Dunkin’ Donuts,” he added. “We Canadians are proud to be Canadians, but we are also great friends and great admirers of the United States of America.”
