Canada ‘one of the best places in the world’ to buy oil from: U.S. envoy

Canada is considered "one of the best places in the world" for the United States to acquire oil from, according to U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra. His remarks come just days before new U.S.-imposed forced labor tariffs are set to affect Canada, adding to existing sectoral tariffs.

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(When) the president says, ‘We don’t need your oil,’ we need oil but we don’t necessarily need it from Canada.

During a panel at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region annual summit, Hoekstra addressed comments made by U.S. President Donald Trump, who had previously stated that the U.S. does not "need" Canadian oil. Hoekstra clarified that while the U.S. does need oil, it doesn't necessarily have to be from Canada. However, he quickly added that Canada is a preferred supplier.

"We have found over the last couple of decades that one of the best places in the world to get oil from is Canada. It’s close by. The people that we have to work with in Alberta are great business partners. They’re good business people," Hoekstra said. He specifically pointed to Saskatchewan and Alberta as regions that could make a strong case for supplying more oil to the United States.

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We have found over the last couple of decades that one of the best places in the world to get oil from is Canada. It’s close by. The people that we have to work with in Alberta are great business partners. They’re good business people.

President Trump has frequently expressed that the U.S. is self-sufficient in energy. In January, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, he stated, "We don’t need them to make our cars, and they make a lot of them. We don’t need their lumber because we have our own forests. We don’t need their oil and gas. We have more than anybody."

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Probably the region that can make the most compelling case for supplying more oil to the United States would be Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Separately, on July 1, the U.S. trade representative announced that Washington would not renew the Canada-U.S. Mexico Free Trade Agreement (CUSMA/USMCA) in its current form. Hoekstra noted that U.S. trade representatives were addressing issues with Mexico but described negotiations with Canada as being "at a different level."

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We don’t need them to make our cars, and they make a lot of them. We don’t need their lumber because we have our own forests. We don’t need their oil and gas. We have more than anybody.