Energy will play a key role in NAFTA negotiations

Trump is highlighting his efforts to reduce regulations on energy producers and jump-start energy exports.

Perry’s comments are nonetheless the latest signal Trump’s cabinet is warming to trade ties with Canada and Mexico — whether it’s lauding NAFTA and its impact on farmers or saying any revisions of the pact will be good for the U.S. neighbours, as well.

“Energy is an ideal area for the Trump administration to move forward with the relationship,” Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center, said in a telephone interview.

Trump has long advocated for American energy dominance, Wood said: “But everybody knows that for the United States to do that on its own is a pipe dream in the short term at least — but for North America working together, it becomes feasible.”

Perry likened NAFTA renegotiation to the “need to renegotiate a contract from time to time,” saying the president wants to “massage” and “rework” the deal, with energy playing an important role.

The U.S. is both a major exporter and importer of oil and natural gas with both nations.

“I think we have a unique opportunity in this country to develop a North American energy strategy that will pay great dividends for Canadians, for Mexicans, for Americans, as we go forward,” he said, adding he has good working relationships with Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr and Mexican Energy Secretary Pedro Joaquin Coldwell.

Carr echoed the comments, saying Perry has championed North American energy co-operation since his first days on the job.

“We both understand the importance of that integrated market,” Carr said in an interview. “We understand we have to keep goods flowing, that we can establish North America as a world leader in the production of conventional and clean energy.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also welcomed NAFTA renegotiation, casting it as an opportunity to update a pact negotiated in a pre-internet era.

“We’re looking towards NAFTA renegotiations as an opportunity to update a deal that is 25 years old,” Trudeau said, adding that his government is focused on working constructively with Trump’s team.

“The back and forth between my office and the president’s office continues in a constructive and productive way, and indeed is part of the relationship Canadians expect me to have with the president.”

Energy is a pillar of North American trade.

Imported crude from Canada and Mexico now account for a larger percentage of total U.S. imports, growing to 49 per cent in 2016, from 34 per cent in 2010, according to the American Petroleum Institute.