[CTC] American Petroleum Institute sees NAFTA's passage as a priority in 2019

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Inside U.S. Trade
 
American Petroleum Institute sees USMCA’s passage as a priority in 2019 
01/08/2019

American Petroleum Institute CEO Mike Sommers said Tuesday that ushering the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement through the new Congress will be a priority for the energy industry.

Sommers told reporters that trade would be a top issue in 2019 for the organization, an advocacy group for the energy industry. “The United States is the world's largest producer of natural gas and oil,” he said. “We want to make sure that there's a market for that product that is being developed in historic ways in the United States. So, [USMCA] is an important priority of ours and we will work to see it accomplished within the first session of this Congress.”
He added that Canada and Mexico are biggest trading partners for the U.S. energy industry.

Sommers also said the industry would continue to appeal to the Trump administration and Congress for the removal of Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs, which he characterized as “not good for business.” He pointed to at least one pipeline that had yet to be completed because the company constructing it couldn't obtain the steel it needed.

“We're working closely with the administration to clear this matter up, particularly as we lead up to advocacy for the USMCA,” he said. “So, we're working closely with the administration. We're working with Congress as well if those efforts within the administration don't prove fruitful.”

Broad talks between the U.S. and China will have implications for the energy industry, Sommers said. While he said he was “encouraged” that talks were going well – according to the administration – he added that the industry wanted “this dispute to end quickly.”

He said Chinese retaliatory tariffs on liquefied natural gas from the U.S. should be lifted, fearing that other countries – particularly those whose regimes are “not favorable” to the U.S. – will take market away from the U.S.

In a report released by API <https://www.api.org/~/media/Files/Policy/SOAE-2019/SOAE2019_Report.pdf> on Tuesday, the group argued that future U.S. trade agreements should include provisions aimed at “eliminating tariffs, creating energy trading zones and protecting U.S. energy investments in other countries.”

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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