Posted by
Rich from Paso on Saturday, March 01, 2008 10:45:25 AM
All of the socialists running for president this year, that being Obama and Clinton, have been talking about reopening NAFTA because of perceived inequities in the deal. That would be perfrectly fine with Canada. Canada is mandated by the treaty to export to the United States nearly all of it's oil and gas production. Those exports come over the border free of any tariffs or taxes. Canada, not the Middle East, is the number one exporter of oil to the United States.
Where this oil comes from ist the Alberta oil sands 600 miles north of Montana represents the 2nd largest reserve of petroleum in the world. According to the the U.S. Department of Energy, the Canadian oil sand reserves is estimated to contain 179 billion barrels, as compared to the 260 billion barrel in Saudi Arabia. However, even though the Saudi reserve is larger, it is estimated that there is 81 years of oil left in the reserve. Compare that to the estimated 181 years of reserve life in Canada and it is easy to see that Canada will be a world player for a long time.
When Obama and Clinton talk about what a failure NAFTA is, they are ignoring the fact that Canada and Mexico (numbers 1 and 2 respectively) provide nearly 30% of all U.S. oil imports. That oil arrives in America free of tariffs. Sure, many countries have established businesses along the Rio Grande and have been taking advantage of NAFTA. What we have to keep in mind is that with every bad point you can point out about NAFTA, the one over-arching good is that 30% of our oil has no taxes and tariffs on it. Imagine for a second if Canada wasn't bound by NAFTA to supply the U.S. with oil. The U.S. would have to go back to the OPEC nations and pry upwards of 50% of our oil imports from them. The price of gasoline in America would easily be $5 a gallon. Factor in the fact that natural gas production in the lower 48 states has leveled off and this year's 'mild' winter and Canada will end up being the sole provider of natural gas to the U.S. in very short order, all free of any tariffs.
I think, in retrospect, NAFTA was the greatest achievement of the Clinton Administration. It is amazing that short sighted Democrats, including Bill Clinton's wife, want to undo that great acheivement.