The Daily Signal - America First Hits Venezuela—And Canada Pays the Price | E.J. Antoni

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Starting point is 00:00:27 Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. I'd like to talk today about the recent events in Venezuela, specifically from an economic point of view and who are the real winners and losers. The U.S. for a change is firmly in the driver's seat and master of its own destiny and hemisphere. The economic story here also goes well beyond oil, too, although that's what has gotten most of the attention. Venezuela is a veritable gold mine of other natural resources like rare earth minerals, lumber, bauxite, the primary source of aluminum, natural gas, and more.

Starting point is 00:01:03 But the biggest loser of all isn't China or Russia. It's Canada. After last weekend's events, not only is Canada losing its biggest crude customer, but it's also losing its only real leverage in trade talks with the United States. Hi, I'm E.J. Antony for the Daily Signal. I'd like to talk today about the recent events in Venezuela, specifically from an economic point of view and who are the real winners and losers. Let's start with the obvious. The Venezuela operation is a win for America and the Venezuelan people. American consumers and businesses will benefit from lower prices while oil companies have a chance for bigger profits. Venezuelans will benefit from increased investment, jobs, and profits in their country as well. This is why they're stock.

Starting point is 00:02:02 market jumped 50, 60, 70, 80 percent after the U.S. takeover. And if we recall that economic security is also national security, then the new order in South America also simultaneously supports U.S. national security while undermining our greatest rival, China. In war, dependable access to oil is as important as dependable access to kinetic arms. Access to ample, reliable flows of oil represents a key strategic interest. Removing one such flow from the Chinese sphere of influence and bringing it into our own is tremendous progress toward this goal. But the biggest loser of all isn't China or Russia, it's Canada. Western Canada sends over 4 million barrels a day of heavy crude to American refiners who are equipped to handle this type of oil. But now, with access

Starting point is 00:02:58 to the massive flows of Venezuelan crude, which is similar to the Canadian flavor, the U.S. no longer needs to rely on Canada to keep the refineries on the Gulf of America running at full capacity. Instead, the oil shipments that previously went to China are already being redirected to American refiners, tens of millions of barrels worth just days after Maduro's capture. And while the United States is paying full market price for that oil, don't be surprised if oil prices start coming down even further because of this redirection. After all, increasing supply puts downward pressure on prices. As American investment rebuilds, Venezuela is severely neglected oil infrastructure, we can expect production and exports to the U.S. to only increase,

Starting point is 00:03:47 simultaneously benefiting the American and Venezuelan people. That's why this is such a massive economic win for American families and businesses who will benefit from lower prices, courtesy of more energy supplies. And since energy affects the price of everything else in an economy, lower prices for products like gasoline will put downward pressure on countless other prices, providing relief after four years of inflation under the Biden administration. Consider when you go to a grocery store how much of the price of food you're buying is dependent on energy prices. First off, farmers and ranchers are fueling their tractors and other vehicles with diesel and gas. They're also using synthetic fertilizers created with natural gas.

Starting point is 00:04:35 But how did the gallon of milk or the carton of eggs or the bag of bread get to the grocery store in the first place? It got there on a truck fueled by oil. What I'm getting at here is that we seriously underestimate just how much the price of energy affects everything we do and everything we buy. bring down energy prices and you put downward pressure on prices throughout the economy. That's a win for American consumers and businesses alike. And U.S. control of Venezuela is also a second chance for jilted American oil companies to again profit from nearly one-fifth of the world's proven oil reserves. Years ago, those American companies poured investment into Venezuela to essentially modernize

Starting point is 00:05:19 the entire industry there for their troubles. These oil firms had their physical property confiscated and their intellectual property copied as the communists nationalized Venezuelan oil. Of course, communist rule there was a disaster, as it has been everywhere. And the oil industry languished as infrastructure decayed, investment lagged, and production fell well below its potential. Venezuela pumps much less oil today than they did a quarter century ago. But this is poised to reverse. Venezuela will now assuredly receive billions of dollars of investment from American oil companies, many of whom are champing at the bit to regain access to the largest reserves in the world.

Starting point is 00:06:04 That will mean a windfall of jobs and income for the Venezuelan people, all of which could have been Canada's bringing us back to the story of the biggest economic loser here. It didn't have to be this way for the 51st state, But instead of welcoming oil and gas investment from the United States and building valuable infrastructure like pipelines, Canada has preferred to prioritize far-left causes and an anti-energy agenda. After last weekend's events, not only is Canada losing its biggest crude customer, but it's also losing its only real leverage in trade talks with the United States. This is an economic reality that very few professional pundits seem to have grasped. To be clear, the flood of cheap Venezuela and crude will not arrive in the U.S. overnight. It will take time, years, in fact, to rebuild Venezuela's oil infrastructure and really ramp up production to replace most Canadian crude imports.

Starting point is 00:07:02 But the writing is on the wall. The U.S. for a change is firmly in the driver's seat and master of its own destiny and hemisphere. The economic story here also goes well beyond oil, too, although that's what has gotten most of the attention. attention. Venezuela is a veritable gold mine of other natural resources like rare earth minerals, lumber, bauxite, the primary source of aluminum, natural gas, and more. Canada just lost not only its leverage with oil, but just about every other one of its exports too. Since the Canadian economy is much more dependent on exports than the U.S. economy is, and since nearly all Canadian exports come to the U.S., while relatively few of ours go to Canada, the slowdown and trade between the two

Starting point is 00:07:50 countries has very unequal effects. In short, this has been harmful to, very harmful to Canada, and will be devastating in the long run, but it's little more than a speed bump here in America. President Donald Trump has effectively barred the door on Canada, and the latter will have few alternatives to completely opening every one of its markets to free and fair competition. Of course, Canada can always choose to fall further into irrelevance and economic impoverishment by stubbornly continuing to snub American manufacturers, farmers, and workers. Let me close by saying that if the Monroe Doctrine warned Europeans to stay out of the Western Hemisphere and the Roosevelt Corollary established American intervention therein,

Starting point is 00:08:38 then the Trump corollary has put a finer and more economic point on the matter, that's best summed up in two words, America first. I'm E.J. Antony for The Daily Signal.

The Daily Signal - America First Hits Venezuela—And Canada Pays the Price | E.J. Antoni

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