Cross-Cuts THOSE GRASPING CANADIANS

Here’s a curious twist. U.S. energy producers ear that “the Canadians” might grab a larger piece of the U.S. energy market. (This must be a reversal of the wolf sweeping down on the fold.) Their concerns stem from the free-trade pact recently drafted between Canada and its neighbor to the south. According to the report from an American Mining Congress publication dated Nov 6, U.S. Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter tried to soothe some members of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, who were worried that the trade agreement doesn’t adequately protect U.S. energy producers.

Yeutter countered that protections in the pact are quite adequate, and added:

“If they (American producers) cannot be competitive, they’re going to lose the business to Canadian firms.”

One senator didn’t agree. He described the free-trade agreement as “a loaded gun,” saying: “It is very clear * * * that the natural resource parts of the country are going to be the big losers. * .”

That kind of comment is usually only heard north of the border. Why is it that such concerns to the south are seldom given much play in our newspapers?