Last year, the bilateral trade of energy (including natural gas, oil and power) between the U.S. and Canada was about U.S $55 billion, with oil being 80 percent of the total. Its dollar amount dwarfs other industries, but negotiators may need to view this vital commodity using a different lens. Beyond size, the upstream oil business between America and Canada reveals big shifts in dollar and volume trade over the past few years. The United States has long been its northern neighbor’s biggest oil customer. Yet since 2014, it’s reciprocally grown to become Canada’s biggest supplier too. As a result of this bilateral exchange of barrels, the growth in the oil trade deficit (from the American perspective) has slowed down somewhat. That’s notable for negotiations. But of more interest is that both countries have pushed out a large portion of their “foreign oil” suppliers. So, the upshot of NAFTA […]