00:00Mr. Henry, who was in attendance at the inauguration ceremony in his capacity as a consultant,
00:07notes President Trump's position on Venezuela.
00:10On Monday, the U.S. president told reporters that the United States would probably stop
00:16buying oil from Venezuela.
00:18Today, the international relations expert says Trinidad and Tobago should pay close
00:23attention to what's happening.
00:25While standing on the steps of the Department of State, Secretary Rubio indicated that
00:32there's going to be three litmus tests that's going to examine how the U.S. engages with
00:40all nations.
00:41He said, one, the policy, whatever policy, that policy agreement will be that one, the
00:47U.S. must be stronger from the agreement, must be safer from the agreement, and must
00:52be much more prosperous from that agreement.
00:54Because along those three litmus tests, Trinidad has the ability to pass those tests.
01:00Because when Trump indicated, he said up front, he said, I'm no longer interested in buying
01:05oil from Venezuela.
01:08Henry adds that trade policy will also impact Trinidad and Tobago.
01:12He's reviewing the current treaty that's in place in Panama.
01:18So one of the key things I would say is what Donald Trump is doing, he's leveraging the
01:24strategy of low-hanging fruits.
01:25He's using existing law.
01:28He's not waiting on Congress.
01:29He's using existing law, reviewing existing law, and seeing where there are breaches or
01:35possible setbacks.
01:37So in terms of Trinidad, our trade balances, we are not in a negative trade balance.
01:45So I don't think from a trade perspective we have anything to worry about.
01:49However, he says, when it comes to cross-border gas, it's an area that Trinidad and Tobago
01:55has to navigate in order to seek Trinidad's interest.
01:59Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
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