Alberta's Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Deron Bilous, is back from a meeting in Washington state with U.S. legislators and there was plenty of talk about NAFTA negotiations.

Bilous says, the trade agreement brings a lot of benefits to Canada, but the U.S. and Mexico also receive good benefits.

Agriculture was a big topic during the discussions.

"Harmonization is key for our agricultural sector, to eliminate border costs and better align product licensing and labelling." Bilous says.

The minister says, there was a lot of agreement among both democratic and republican lawmakers as far as making agricultural trade easier and taking down walls.

When it comes to oil and gas, Bilous says there are many benefits.

"Our energy provides many benefits to the U.S. including energy security, jobs and investment on both sides of the border," he says. "Alberta is an export province, our government remains committed to trade agreements that benefit Albertans."

Bilous says, a key for the Alberta government is making sure Chapter 19, the dispute resolution mechanism remains in place in any future agreement.

He says his impression from the meetings was that most, if not all the people in the room, understand and recognize how critical Canada and Alberta is to their economy and the jobs that are created because of trade.

 

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