Moe heads to Arizona with U.S. trade atop agenda

Scott Moe is travelling to the United States to represent Saskatchewan for the first time since being named premier.

He’ll be attending the North American Governors & Premiers Summit in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The premier said he is “looking forward to going and meeting with a number of different governors with our largest trading partner, the United States of America” and to discuss “most notably trade and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).”

“We need access to free and open trade, which we will be discussing at length at this meeting,” he said.

Part of the premier’s goal will be establishing or improving relationships between Saskatchewan and states importing products originating from here. Agriculture, energy, mining and steel were areas specifically mentioned by Moe.

Strong relations between governors and provincial leaders is seen as crucial by many, given the current discussion around NAFTA.

The United States’ position on NAFTA under President Donald Trump is a moving target; and already wide-ranging steel tariffs have been used as a negotiation tactic by Trump’s administration in relation to NAFTA talks.

Moe said part of his strategy in Arizona will be “targeting people who can advance the cause on behalf of the people of the province of Saskatchewan.”

It is expected the premier will try to establish the important role NAFTA plays in trade between Saskatchewan and certain states. Roughly 65 per cent of the province’s estimated annual $30 billion worth of product is being exported to the United States.

“There’s a number of relationships as we go down there. I’m not going to speak to the individual states or governors that we’ll be talking with by way of bilaterals, but we have a number of those meetings put together for this weekend,” he said.

Moe will use paid lobbyists to facilitate meetings while he is in Arizona. The province currently pays a South Carolina-based lobbying firm $380,000 a year to do such work.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley will be joining Moe at the summit.

Perhaps somewhat facetiously, Moe told reporters Thursday the two “may talk about pipelines” — an obvious reference to the joint effort between the two to get the Trans Mountain pipeline project built.

It will be the first time the two have met face to face since Moe became premier in January.