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Mountain Pass, California, where production was suspended
by then-owner Unocal in 2002 because of weak demand and
a delay in an environmental review. Mountain Pass in fact holds
interest for the Chinese. The state-owned China National Offshore
Oil Corp (CNOOC) would have acquired the mine if its 2005 bid for
Unocal had succeeded. The property went instead to Chevron, also
of the US, which in 2007 declined an offer from Chinese buyers and
sold it instead to Molycorp Minerals.
Summitry
‘Los Tres Amigos’ came away from their
meeting in Mexico still friends –
but there are issues
At the closing event of the
North American Leaders’
Summit, hosted in Guadalajara
by Mexican President Felipe
Calderón, US President Barack
Obama struck a defensive note.
With regard to the so-called Buy
American campaign that has
roiled relations with Canada,
Mr Obama acknowledged the
complaint of Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper that
it has cost jobs north of the
border. He himself, said the
president, accepted the Buy American policy only reluctantly.
The problematic item – mandating American-made products
and services from American-owned companies – was installed
by Congress in his $787bn economic stimulus, Mr Obama told
reporters. “It was not something that I thought was necessary,” he
said. “But it was introduced at a time when we had a very severe
economic situation, and it was important for us to act quickly and not
get bogged down in debates around this particular provision.”
As noted by Les Whittington of the Toronto
Star
’s Ottawa Bureau,
the political-expedience explanation probably does not resonate in
Canada. He wrote, “The Buy American provisions are being applied
at the state and local level in the US on new, federally funded
municipal works projects, a trend that Canadian companies say
hurts their chances of landing contracts” south of the border.
The American president both acknowledged and soft-pedalled
the Canadian concern, calling for “perspective” on US trade policies
which, he said, hardly constitute “some sweeping step toward
protectionism.” He also suggested that there may be “mechanisms”
that would enable his administration and Mr Harper’s government
to work together to help Canadian companies avoid Buy American
discrimination. (“Obama Downplays Trade Rift,” 11 August)
Canadian government ministers and senior American officials
have been discussing such a solution. But now, for the first time, the
US president had said a deal is possible, and Mr Harper evidently
intends to hold his counterpart to account. In a TV interview
following the summit meeting, the Canadian premier said: “We’re
very anxious to find a way that we can maybe make some progress
on this, as the president indicated.”
›
For his part, President Calderón took the occasion of the
meeting in Guadalajara to air a grievance, not with the US but
with Canada. The Mexican leader did not conceal his resentment of
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Mexican president Felipe Calderón