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Wright to ABC: Canada Trade Fight Is About Fairness; Answer to Energy Prices Is Producing More

March 5, 2025 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:05:15

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Energy Secretary Chris Wright, asked how Americans will feel lower gas prices when the president imposed a 10% tariff on gas from Canada, said President Trump is a businessman trying to make the best deals for the American people, that there is a lot of cross-border trade but also issues including drug trafficking, and that Canada has 250% tariffs on U.S. dairy — so there is clearly room for improvement in trade with Canada, according to Wright.

On Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s threat to cut off power to the United States with a smile, Wright called the emotions supercharged and unfortunate, said sober, thoughtful discussions are going on behind the scenes to solve the problems and make trade fair and beneficial for America and Canadians, and urged viewers to look at substance over rhetoric, citing Trump’s first-term record of falling prices and rising wages, according to Wright.

Asked what to say to struggling Americans told to hold on, Wright said electricity prices rose over 20% in the last four years and over 20% of Americans struggle to pay their energy bills, which is why Trump declared a national energy emergency: the administration wants to move boldly, produce more oil, natural gas, solar, and electricity in the United States, and get rid of nonsense regulations — including, he said, Energy Department requirements that would have regulated cheap water heaters out of business and made appliances more expensive and lower quality, according to Wright.

Why it matters

The March 2025 ABC interview is Wright’s earliest stated defense of the Canada tariff fight and the energy-emergency program: more production of everything, plus appliance deregulation, as the price answer.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright joins ABC News’s Kyra Phillips - March 5th, 2025”, 2025-03-05 (official upload, embedded above; published 2025-03-05). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.