THUNDER BAY -- A local business forum and trade show is highlighting the importance of the trade relationship between Canada and the U.S., which plays a crucial role in the nations’ success.
Senior trade commissioner Suzanne Cormie recently gave a 30-minute presentation during the Prosperity Northwest Business Forum to address the local business community on Doing Business in the U.S. Upper Mid-West – A Land of Opportunity for Northwestern Ontario Business.
During an interview after her presentation Cormie said the trade relationship between Canada and the US is huge.
“When I talk about trade, I’m not just talk about trade in goods,” Cormie said. “I’m talking about trade in goods and services, investment into the United States, bringing American investment into Canada – the whole gamete of international business.”
Cormie added that an estimated 1.9 billion dollars every day crosses over the Canadian and US border.
“Canada is based on trade,” Cormie said. “That’s our history, that’s our DNA, it started out in the fur trading days and that’s what has created the country that we have today.”
As the senior commissioner Cormie works with Canadian companies to help them enter the market, and in many ways she acts as a facilitator to help businesses find the right partners.
Cormie’s presentation was geared toward providing Thunder Bay businesses with a sense of trading opportunities across the border.
She explained that during her presentation she had a cheeseburger illustration showing that each product of the cheeseburger came from different parts of America.
“For one little product there were all these aspects from different places and that’s the whole how trade is integrated,” she said.
“Many Canadian exports have about 17 per cent of American content because there are different components and that goes back and forth and likewise for US products.”
Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce president Charla Robinson said there’s a variety of local businesses large and small that do some trading with the US.
“It’s expanding our market opportunities,” Robinson said. “We know that northwestern Ontario is a relatively small area, we only have about 250,000 people, so if you want to go to mid-west US there are millions of people that would be interested if you have a product.”
Robinson said it’s beneficial especially geographically, it’s not difficult to get there and back, so there isn’t a whole lot of cost that there would be if you were exporting to other areas.
She added that it’s definitely an opportunity right now with the Canadian dollar being so attractive.
“That’s another good reason to get into the US market, because you can provide a pricing structure that that may be a little more reasonable then what you could when the Canadian dollar was high.”
