Keystone XL: What Trump’s focus on an oil pipeline says about Canada-U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump says a Canada-U.S. oil pipeline project cancelled by two of his predecessors “may be awoken from the grave” under a new bilateral trade agreement between the neighbouring nations.
But a former executive involved with Keystone XL and other industry experts suggest the remark may have more to do with politics than petroleum.
In a social media post late Tuesday, less than two hours before punishing new levies on Canadian goods entering the U.S. were due to start, Trump announced a “deal” with Canada and a three-day halt on new tariffs.
“The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave!” he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform, referring to his predecessor in the White House.
Prime Minister Mark Carney did not address this in a statement responding to Trump’s post.
U.S. President Donald Trump has paused 50 per cent tariffs on Canada, saying the two countries have reached a new trade deal that just needs to be finalized. In a statement, Prime Minister Mark Carney said ‘substantial progress has been made.’
For U.S., Keystone XL ‘can be a nightmare’
“The fact that Trump has signalled that is something that he sees in the deal, I think is helpful to Carney [and] the trade-offs he’s going to have to make over the next 72 hours,” said Dennis McConaghy, former executive vice-president of corporate development at TransCanada Corporation, now called TC Energy.
From auto parts and lumber to steel and aluminum, the Republican president has targeted key sectors of Canada’s economy since Feb. 1, 2025, when his administration announced sweeping tariffs on goods from Canada.
Since then, he has regularly stated that the U.S. does not need anything that Canada has, even as key items like oil, potash and critical minerals have stayed exempt from U.S. tariffs.
“In the context of a person who says we don’t need anything from Canada, that [Keystone XL remark] was somewhat welcome,” McConaghy said.
However, Carlo Dade, director of international policy at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, told CBC Radio’s Calgary Eyeopener that a revival of the controversial project would face familiar political and environmental challenges today.
“Let’s not get too excited about Keystone just yet,” Dade said on Wednesday.
“Will it be done by the end of his term? Because we potentially have Democrats … in the offing, which is going to make this extremely difficult,” he said. “He looks at this as a rejection of the policies of previous administrations, Biden, Democrats, et cetera.”
Valérie Beaudoin, a member of the federal government’s Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Economic Relations, said greenlighting Keystone XL will be far easier for Carney than Trump.
“For them, it can be a nightmare,” she said. “Even if Trump says, ‘Oh, Keystone XL is back on track,’ who is going to want…
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