For those that want to "punish the USA" economically in Canada, give your head a shake.
Our 80% of our exports to the USA represents less than 16% of their imports...and their
less than 22% of their total exports to Canada is more than half of Canada's imports. This
isn't a p!ssing match we can afford and the reason that the softwood lumber dispute took
about 15 years to (sort of) resolve as poorly as it was resolved. Hate to burst anyone's
inflated sense of national self but this is just the way it is. Canada is a very large resourse
rich nation that shares a border with only one country on the entire continent, and that one country has a population that is ten times larger than ours. That's partly why we (Canada) have a trade deficit with our one and only neighbor.
Really?
We're stuck with this trade ratio due to arseholes in the Government bending over backwards for the US. As you said, we are a resource rich nation..... so why the hell are we just trading mostly with the US?
Only country bordering us? Whoopie do.... fly north to Russia, ship south to Cuba and help them out more then we are, We're already trading with China.... step it up. Our government for once, has been trying to open up trade with nations in South America while the US continues to avoid them.
Just because the stats above state those numbers, doesn't mean it's fixed and it doesn't mean we're stuck with the system we have now.
Open up more trading with more countries. Our dollar value is close to the US, but a bit lower.... therefore we're still somewhat cheaper to trade with then the US, so we've got plenty to market and trade with.
The only reason why people don't think we can trade equal, if not more, then what we are with the US to other nations, is because of a bogus fear and the unknown.
Our idiot government thought that having the richest nation south of the border was enough to keep our economy going.... now the richest nation is becoming one of the poorests with a piss poor economy due to their own doing..... and because our government made the stupid mistake of putting all our market mostly into the US, we're going to pay for it when they bottom out.
Screw that... trade with other nations. And they will trade with us.... it'll just take more effort and work to make it happen, as opposed to the easy patch fix of dealing with the US.
Drop our dependancy on one nation and do what we should have been doing, and expand our trade.
It's not like it's an impossible feat. Our nation already trades with many other countries in the world..... just expand on those areas.
Yes, we can find, eventually, other markets for some of our exports overseas at greatly increased costs in shipping which will have to compete economically with similar products already in that market that don't have to be shipped half way around the planet.
Well you either put a little more money into a system that will work, or you take your chances with a quick and easy market which just bottomed out. I'd much rather put a bit more money into something that is more secure, rather then put more and more money into a nation that doesn't have a clue how to control it's greed.
We have many resources that are wanted and needed all around the world.... Lumber, Uranium, Fresh Water, State of the Art Auto Industries, etc...... the list goes on. What we can not trade and sell internally, we can market elsewhere...... once again, it takes time and effort, but it is more then possible.
That means our products better still be a bit cheaper or exponentially better, or a combination of these two benefits or they just wont sell. The USA is physically close and has been an economically convenient source for our exports. Due to our geography, 4/5th's of our export eggs are in the USA basket so we should be wishing them the absolute best, and not wanting to economically punish them.
It's not just about punishment, it's about covering our own asses for the future so that we can avoid this situation in the future.
Hell, in the gerocery store, I see fruits and veggies marked that they came from South America.... if we can get their products here, then we can get our products there.
You hit it on the head though..... trading with the US was convenient..... was. Now we're seeing what happens when you settle for what's easiest, rather then what is secure.
Do you want to save yourself money in the short term by investing all your trade with one nearby nation, or do you want to save money in the long run by investing in various other nations to give yourself some backup?
Take my work for example. We make signs and advertisements for a crap load of companies in the maritimes and elsewhere. If we focused on just one or two big companies with loads of money, I'm sure we'd do alright..... but those companies have hard times like everybody else, they sometimes get all that they need..... and someday, they might go tits up.
^ so, if we just focused all our business to one or two companies, if something happens to them, we're fokked and out of a job. Sure we could save a bunch of money by cutting our travel time and equipment by just dealing within Halifax..... but if you market yourself to deal with many more companies in a larger area you can cover, you will get more business and more money, even when the other big companies drop. We'll feel the effect from the loss of business, but we won't be out of a job.
]quote]They're already punishing themselves and we're going to feel it also. If you don't believe it, then reread the above two paragraphs, and then talk to someone in the manufacturing sector in southern Ontario or anyone in international shipping
between Canada and the USA.[/quote]
I certainly don't need to re-read it, because those problems are exactly what I am arguing.... putting all our dependancy into the US is what created this whole mess in the first place.
You're right, they're punishing themselves by their own stupid actions.... and they're taking us with them.... why the hell would anybody want to continue in that environment. Why wouldn't anybody decide
"Hey, why the hell are we screwing ourselves by sticking with this sort of trade? Why the hell should we continue to invest into a country that has no clue how to keep themselves afloat?"
I say to hell with the US, expand our market to other nations.