Moe pushes trade, unity during U.S. meetings

Premier believes trip was worth it despite ‘challenging and sensitive’ discussions

... I think we have similar goals in getting to a place where we have a fair trade deal in place.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he made good progress during his first official trip to the U.S., while downplaying expectations about what it will achieve amid an ongoing trade dispute.

Speaking from Washington, D.C., Moe said his goal is to eliminate new tariffs on Canadian steel exports, avoid any duties on Saskatchewan uranium and fairly renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“So will this trip be responsible for those three things? I think that would be a high expectation to put on this trip,” Moe said in an interview Thursday afternoon.

“But any way we’re able to advance those three conversations or the broader relationship between the U.S. and Canada, then it is worth it — and I believe it was.”

Moe spent Wednesday and Thursday meeting with almost a dozen U.S. officials, including Democratic and Republican Members of Congress, and members of President Donald Trump’s administration.

Among others, he met with Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

The meetings were arranged before Trump’s decision to impose steep tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum exports prompted deep concern in the metal industry and retaliatory trade measures from Ottawa. Moe acknowledged that the duties on steel exports are not good for the province or steel manufacturer Evraz North America PLC, but said it is important to keep having “challenging and sensitive” discussions.

Those talks focused on specific issues, as well as the deep connections between the Saskatchewan and U.S. economies, he said.

“Although the discussions are challenging and sensitive, that shouldn’t preclude us from having them,” Moe said, adding he aims to have this conveyed to the highest levels of U.S. government.

Canada exported slightly less than $300 billion in goods and services to the U.S. in 2016, around four per cent of which — $12.7 billion — came from Saskatchewan. The province’s exports grew to more than $16 billion last year.

Asked how much of an effect he can have, given the province’s comparatively small size, Moe noted that no Canadian jurisdiction exports more per capita.

“The people I met with, I think we have similar goals in getting to a place where we have a fair trade deal in place. So I think the goals are similar, although we represent our people in similar yet different ways from time to time.”