There is $1.4 billion a day in trade that goes back and forth across the border. That means millions of jobs and livelihoods for families here in Canada and for families in the United States.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The Canadian economy relies on foreign trade. Nearly three-quarters of Canada's exports go south.
We've made our living for a long time on commerce and trade at the border.
In 1988, federal data showed a modest China-trade surplus of $1.6 billion in Canada's favour.
Canada has as much or more control of the border than we do. Getting into Mexico is a lot easier than getting into Canada.
Caterpillar exported $20 billion of goods in 2011, all by American hands and American workers, to all over the world. In order to do that, we have to create jobs in all those countries that we export to, to be able to sell there.
I don't think Canada is very inexpensive anymore. I travel there all the time; it's rather on the expensive side. I think there's significant risk to the Canadian economy.
I think because we're such a trading nation, I think Canadians understand that first and foremost we're part of the global economy.
We aren't leveraging this great economic engine, the strongest economy in the world. And yet we have this totally weak response. We import $500 billion a year more in products than we export.
The CAFTA region currently imports $15 billion annually of U.S. agriculture and manufactured goods.
Our foreign-exchange reserves when I took over were no more than a billion dollars; that is, roughly equal to two weeks' imports.
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