Are We Taking US-Canada Trade for Granted?
When actor-director Ben Affleck held aloft his Oscar “Best Motion Picture” award for the movie, “Argo” and thanked Canada, most Americans applauded. But how are we really thanking Canada, by far our largest trading partner, with $1.8 billion in goods and services crosses our northern border every day? Is our economic relationship being weighted down by a tyranny of small but seemingly endless and consequential border and regulatory barriers? And, are those differences hurting capital formation and job growth in our own backyard? Are we taking the relationship for granted? Sadly, yes. Even though Canada temporary housed scores of airplanes and American citizens grounded by the tragedy of 9-11, our trade and economic relationship with Canada has suffered ever since. Passports are now required to cross the US-Canadian border. Conveyance fees have been established for every shipment of goods from our northern neighbor. The border is thicker with new regulatory enforcement schemes and barriers. That is why both President George Bush in 2005 and President Barack Obama in 2011 launched separate, but important initiatives to knock down those barriers and turn North America into a more powerful global export platform. President Bush launched the Security and Prosperity Partnership for North…
