Positioning Canada as a Global Trading Hub

Larger and more diversified developed economies have other sources of growth For example, international trade accounts for 65 percent of GDP in Canada but only 30 percent in the United States.1 Beyond the imperative to continue trading, Canada has the right ingredients to become a global trading hub and a nexus for global supply chains. [...] This “new normal” will have a direct impact on future GDP growth.3 Despite the role of trade in spurring global growth and lifting entire segments of the population out of poverty, the future of large multilateral trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), is clearly at risk. [...] Both the government and the private sector should push for better integration of Canadian and American businesses and should promote the benefits of engaging with Canadian businesses through cross-border trade and investments. [...] Such an approach would recognize the fact that one of Canada’s greatest economic assets is our proximity to and long history of trade with the United States, which receives nearly three-quarters of Canada’s exports and provides half of our imports. [...] About 95 percent of the North American trade of both Canada and Mexico, in goods and services alike, is with the United States.