The Canada-US Trade and Transportation Relationship

"The Prime Minister and I are determined not just to sustain this trade but to expand it, to grow it even faster, so we’re creating even more jobs and opportunity for our people. Canada is key to achieving my goal of doubling American exports and putting folks back to work.”⁵ – US President Barack Obama, December 7, 2011

The Canada-US border extends for approximately 8,900 kilometres/5,525 miles (land and water) and is serviced by over 120 land border crossings and 23 international bridges. In 2010, some 28.9 million cars and 5.4 million trucks crossed the shared border,⁶ and it is estimated that approximately $US 1.7 billion worth of goods and services cross each day (over $US 1 million every minute).⁷ With 2010 bilateral merchandise trade valued at just below $US 500 billion,⁸ this commercial relationship is critical to the economic well-being of millions of US and Canadian citizens. The depth and breadth of this relationship is underscored by the fact that approximately eight million US jobs are linked to trade with Canada, while an estimated one in seven Canadian jobs is linked to trade with the US.⁹ Put another way, our countries serve as each other’s largest export markets – Canada is the leading export market for 36 US states,¹⁰ while the US sold more goods to Canada last year than to China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Brazil combined.

Figure 1 – Value of Canada-US Merchandise Trade, 1990-2010

Source: Statistics Canada and Bank of Canada

While this economic relationship spans more than 140 years, key trade-related milestones have helped to propel the Canada-US economic relationship to new levels, with both Canada and the US having been founding members of the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)¹¹ before embarking upon the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement, and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Since the signing of the NAFTA, the level of Canada-US merchandise trade has more than doubled. This trade framework is also buttressed by a host of other successful commercial arrangements and agreements including, for example, the 2007 Canada-US Open Skies agreement.

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⁵ Ibid
⁶ See: http://www.transtats.bts.gov/bordercrossing.aspx
⁷ Source: Statistics Canada
⁸ Source: Statistics Canada
⁹ See: http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=4516
¹⁰ See: http://www.international.gc.ca/commerce/facts-infos/usa-2009-eu.aspx?view=d
¹¹ Superseded by the World Trade Organization in 1994.