"Bush, Mexico's Fox Meet on Energy, Trade".

By Patricia Wilson
 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush and Mexico's President Vicente Fox discussed America's energy needs at the White House Thursday and agreed to revisit the issue after a U.S. task force reports to Bush later this month.

During their fourth meeting since Bush took office on Jan. 20, the U.S. leader invited Fox to make a state visit from Sept. 5-7, a senior administration official said.

It will be the first state visit of the Bush administration and the official said that reflected the president's respect for Fox, whom Bush knew when he was governor of Texas, as well as their "really excellent personal relationship."

The two leaders talked about a wide range of issues including energy, trade, immigration and law enforcement cooperation. Vice President Dick Cheney, who heads the energy task force, and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick also attended the Oval Office session.

"The energy situation in California and the energy situation in the United States and beyond the United States in general did come up in terms of energy needs and the energy market," the official told reporters.

After meeting with Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien in Quebec City last month, Bush told reporters he wanted the United States to turn to its neighbors for more of its energy needs. The three countries are signatories to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

"Canada's long on energy," Bush said. "America's short on energy. Mexico, with the right policy, could be long on energy."

"HARD WORK" ON ENERGY

The senior administration official said at Thursday's  meeting, Fox talked about the market studies Mexico was making with regard to its energy strategy and Cheney talked about the work his group was doing on a national U.S. energy policy.

"Both sides indicated that there is a lot of hard work being done on energy and they are moving it along as rapidly as possible," the official said. "They agreed to continue an overall discussion of how to cooperate on the energy side in the interests of both parties."

One draft of the energy report obtained by Reuters last month said the White House would recommend overhauling cross-border energy trade regulations to boost supplies for power-strapped California. Bush has said the United States wants to work with Mexico to develop electricity supplies.

Earlier on Thursday, Bush ordered federal agencies in California to find ways to reduce energy use through steps such as cutting back on e-mail and air conditioning to help alleviate summer power shortages.

After the White House meeting, Fox told reporters: "We are waiting to receive Vice President Cheney's analysis on energy so we can have figures and information to see what the markets look like for the future, what the production sources are, what the availability of the inventories we have."

"At the very end what we are shooting for is making sure that all three countries associated in NAFTA have the energy to keep our countries moving. That on the long term we have the best and most stable prices of energy, and that in the long term that we use energy to move our economies," he added.

Fox also praised Bush for asking Congress to extend the April 30 deadline that allowed illegal immigrants with family or sponsors in the United States to apply for legal status without leaving the country, calling it "a valiant effort."

20:13 05-03-01

1. "U.S., Mexico Seek Energy Consensus".