Posted on March 2, 2011

Canada Must Diversify its Export Basket

China has supplanted Canada as the number one source of U.S. imports. In 1990, China held the eighth spot while Canada was by far the dominant exporter with Japan following well behind.

On the export front, Canada remains the number one destination of U.S. exports while Mexico has shifted to the second position thanks to NAFTA. But China has risen to number three from a measly 18th position twenty years before. Japan, the U.K. and Germany follow next with a fairly wide distance behind China. For Canada, the United States remains the primary destination for all exports; indeed, in 2010, exports to the U.S. were 4.2 times the sum of exports to the next 15 nations. Big as that is, we have seen some diversification since 2000 when exports to the U.S. were 9.2 times larger than the sum of the next 15 nations. Japan, formerly our second biggest export market, has fallen to fourth place behind the U.K. and China. Exports to Mexico have also grown sharply.

With the relative slowdown in the U.S. economy, it is key that Canada broaden its export partners, especially to the faster growing countries in the emerging world. Read on… the complete article is available from BMO Capital Markets Economics by following this link.