[CTC] TransCanada to proceed with ISDS case despite Trump's memorandum on Keystone XL

[Arthur Stamoulis]

INSIDE US TRADE
 
TransCanada to proceed with ISDS case despite Trump's memorandum on Keystone XL

February 14, 2017 
TransCanada, the company hoping to build the Keystone XL pipeline across the U.S.-Canadian border, will continue to pursue its claim that the Obama administration's rejection of the project was in violation of the U.S.' obligations under NAFTA -- despite the Trump administration's pledge to permit the construction of the controversial pipeline.

“The legal challenges will continue to move forward at this time,” a spokesman from TransCanada said in an email to Inside U.S. Trade.

President Trump on Jan. 24 signed a presidential memorandum <https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/24/presidential-memorandum-regarding-construction-keystone-xl-pipeline> that invited TransCanada to resubmit an application to build the Keystone XL pipeline, while also instructing the secretary of State to issue a “final permitting determination, including a final decision as to any conditions on issuance of the permit that are necessary or appropriate to serve the national interest” within 60 days of receiving TransCanada's application.

The State Department rejected TransCanada's application in November 2014, citing foreign policy goals and environmental and economic reasons.

But TransCanada claims the decision to reject the KeystoneXL project was a political decision and not based on the merits of its application. It isseeking $15 billion from the U.S. via the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism in NAFTA <https://insidetrade.com/node/151938>. The case is listed as “pending” following the appointment of a U.S. arbitrator.


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