New Trade Partner 4 Canada

[ndpnic]

Asia has a BOMMING economy.

Thanks inpart to the NAFTA, China now has it 1st middle-class populace ever.

Considering the economic, political, and social states of the US, would Canada be better off shifting the bulk of Trading from US to Asia?

[Newfie Canadian]

Isn't everyone else?

I watched an interview with an official from a South American country a couple of weeks ago that said they were looking to China instead of North America (the US in particular) for trade options.

[kimmy]

People on this message board seem to think it's a piece of cake. "Oh, let's be less dependant on the Americans. We'll just trade with Asia instead!"

Gee, what a novel idea! I wonder why nobody has thought of it before. Canada is interested in trade with Asia. Canada is trying to expand trade with Asia. The problem is, it's not as easy as it sounds. The problem is that these countries are even more protectionist than the Americans!

-kimmy

[ceemes]

I have been saying for years and years that Canada has to cut its economic apron strings with the US, or at least, loosen them up considerably.

We are too closely tied to the US economically and badly need to diversify our markets and trading partners. And we have best do it sooner then later, otherwise when the US economy does finally tank and go into an unrecoverable terminal tailspin, we will be sucked down with them.

Canada does have a lot to offer the world markets in the way of raw materials, food stuffs, energy exports, technological advances, engineering, medicines, high tech ect.....for the most part we are better educated then our American neighbours, but suffer from a terminal case of self-asbasement.

One of the strangest ways I have heard Canadian and Canadian business people discribed was "As Americans who will not answer the phone or call back." This from some of my Japanese counterparts. Time for Canada and Canadians to shed their image of Mr. Nice Guy and start going for broke, at least in the fields of business and trade.

[August1991]

We are too closely tied to the US economically and badly need to diversify our markets and trading partners.

This comment, as others on this thread, show a frightening ignorance of the nature of trade and the experience of government trade policies over the past century.

To diversify trade in the manner suggested, the Canadian government would deliberately have to make it difficult for individual Canadians to deal with individual Americans. The Canadian government would in effect be making choices for us.

The evidence is that when this happens, everyone becomes poorer.

Canada does not trade with the United States. Individual Canadians trade with individuals in the US. We trade individually as best suits us and we diversify individually in our own way as we see fit.

The government can act as an institution for our collective benefit but not in the area of international trade. The 20th century provides ample evidence of that.

[Big Blue Machine]

If any economy is booming in the world, we need to be a part of it. That's common sense. You don't want to be a part of an economy that is slowing down.

[Newfie Canadian]

Martin seems to think that China is the place to go.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...9457?hub=Canada

One month before a trade mission to China, Prime Minister Paul Martin said Canada must do more business with the booming Asian giant, whose economy could soon surpass that of the world's economic engine, the United States.