Mexico Secretary of Energy Pedro Joaquín Coldwell

North American energy ministers meet

HOUSTON, November 15, 2017 – The energy ministers of Canada, the USA and Mexico met in Houston on Tuesday to discuss relevant issues in the context of the NAFTA renegotiations.

Mexican Secretary of Energy Pedro Joaquín Coldwell and Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Jim Carr joined US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry to talk about mutual co-operation in energy matters including data sharing, pipeline and export facility security, technology and cross-border energy regulation.

Minister Carr stressed the need to work beyond partisan politics, while Secretary Coldwell emphasised Mexico’s commitment to collaboration, citing the country’s USD 60-million investment in joint R&D programmes in the USA and Canada.

Speaking at a press conference at the University of Houston after the meeting, Secretary Perry expressed confidence that the trade deal between the three countries would be successfully overhauled.

“We not only will have a good agreement, it’ll be a fair agreement, and the private sector can know […] when they come to invest in Mexico or Canada or the United States, there will be a good framework in place in which they can do business,” Secretary Perry said.

“Canada and Mexico are the largest energy trading partners of the United States, and the energy security of our three countries is achievable because of mutual co-operation.”

The latest round of NAFTA talks will begin today in Houston, and end on November 21. The trade renegotiations kicked off after US President Donald Trump took office earlier this year. President Trump has threatened to scrap the 23-year old deal altogether if one more favourable to the USA cannot be reached.

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