Here's yet another example of how anti-globalist sentiment is going to hurt our economy:
http://www.ibdeditorial.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=297559097183066
Canada Eats Our Trade Lunch
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, June 05, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Competitiveness: As Congress gloats over its denial of free trade to Colombia, Canada has moved on a free-trade pact of its own that will take U.S. markets.
Congressional Democrats often speak of restoring U.S. influence in the world. But if they think halting free trade with Colombia will do the trick, they'll be surprised to know that the country whose influence they are extending is our northern neighbor.
As the proposed U.S.-Colombian trade agreement languishes into its fifth year, Canada is rushing to pass its own pact with the up-and-coming South American nation. And hot on Canada's heels are Russia and the European Union, which also have no intention of blowing an opportunity.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada has its deal nearly done, and parliament will pull no monkeyshines to gum it up. In fact, it may sign off this week, months ahead of its September target, after watching House Speaker Nancy Pelosi derail the U.S. treaty.
"We have to laud the Canadians for their recognition of self-interest," said John Murphy, vice president for international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "The question is: Why can't we do the same?"
Once the Canada-Colombia free trade treaty is signed, Canada's influence will rise in one of Latin America's most attractive markets.
This may sound far-fetched. After all, isn't Canada an insignificant shadow of the U.S.? The short answer is no. Canada is a major U.S. competitor that has figured out how to work similarities and differences with the U.S. to its advantage.
Like the U.S., Canada enjoys a high standard of living. Per-capita income is $29,000, meaning a large consumer economy and high-value exports. In fact, those fancy exports are uncannily similar to ours.
Through the North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S. and Canada are leaders in exports of similar goods, including oil, plastics, machinery, cars and sound equipment (see charts above).
We even buy and sell them to each other, proving that excelling at comparable goods is no barrier to either country's well-being. In fact, it has made both countries rich.
But unlike the U.S., Canada appears small, with a population of just 33 million, compared with 300 million in the U.S. â or even Colombia's 44 million.
Canada's size has given it a different, Asian-tiger-like export orientation, with exports accounting for nearly 40% of its $1.1 trillion GDP. The U.S., by contrast, counts only 11% of its $13 trillion GDP as exports. So, although Canada's economy and population are smaller, it punches well above its weight in export trade.
This matters when the new trading partner, Colombia, isn't all that big to begin with â and bought $6.7 billion in American goods in 2006, much of it the same stuff Canada and the U.S. sell to each other.
Colombia could easily substitute the goods it buys from the U.S. with those it could get tariff-free from Canada. In fact, it would be smart to do it. The result will be a Canada that snatches away U.S. markets in Latin America's fourth-biggest economy, one that's expected to spend $30 billion on exports this year.
The $516 million U.S. corn export market in Colombia is particularly vulnerable, says Murphy, because U.S. farmers may pay tariffs as high as 35% to sell corn there. Canada's farmers will soon pay nothing. Canada's land advantage, meanwhile, enables it to export plenty of corn.
Pelosi's stalling gives other advantages to Canada, Murphy notes. The fact that the U.S. started on a pact and then stopped, he says, gave Canada more than just a tariff edge.
It also gave it a time-and-information advantage. U.S. trade officials spent years cataloguing tariffs, mastering laws and negotiating clauses that each side could agree on. This gave Canadians (and Europeans) "a beautiful road map" for their own free trade pacts, Murphy explained.
In any other country, such a pointless squandering of market share would be cause for alarm. But somehow, Pelosi & Co. imagine that America doesn't compete in the world, that markets don't matter and that the U.S. will always be number one.
They steep themselves in puritanical righteousness, stalling the Colombia pact over a few crimes being prosecuted by authorities, while American influence and competitiveness wither.
Colombia isn't going to wait for Pelosi to come to her senses. It'll go ahead and do business with Canada.
http://www.ibdeditorial.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=297559097183066
Canada Eats Our Trade Lunch
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, June 05, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Competitiveness: As Congress gloats over its denial of free trade to Colombia, Canada has moved on a free-trade pact of its own that will take U.S. markets.
Congressional Democrats often speak of restoring U.S. influence in the world. But if they think halting free trade with Colombia will do the trick, they'll be surprised to know that the country whose influence they are extending is our northern neighbor.
As the proposed U.S.-Colombian trade agreement languishes into its fifth year, Canada is rushing to pass its own pact with the up-and-coming South American nation. And hot on Canada's heels are Russia and the European Union, which also have no intention of blowing an opportunity.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada has its deal nearly done, and parliament will pull no monkeyshines to gum it up. In fact, it may sign off this week, months ahead of its September target, after watching House Speaker Nancy Pelosi derail the U.S. treaty.
"We have to laud the Canadians for their recognition of self-interest," said John Murphy, vice president for international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "The question is: Why can't we do the same?"
Once the Canada-Colombia free trade treaty is signed, Canada's influence will rise in one of Latin America's most attractive markets.
This may sound far-fetched. After all, isn't Canada an insignificant shadow of the U.S.? The short answer is no. Canada is a major U.S. competitor that has figured out how to work similarities and differences with the U.S. to its advantage.
Like the U.S., Canada enjoys a high standard of living. Per-capita income is $29,000, meaning a large consumer economy and high-value exports. In fact, those fancy exports are uncannily similar to ours.
Through the North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S. and Canada are leaders in exports of similar goods, including oil, plastics, machinery, cars and sound equipment (see charts above).
We even buy and sell them to each other, proving that excelling at comparable goods is no barrier to either country's well-being. In fact, it has made both countries rich.
But unlike the U.S., Canada appears small, with a population of just 33 million, compared with 300 million in the U.S. â or even Colombia's 44 million.
Canada's size has given it a different, Asian-tiger-like export orientation, with exports accounting for nearly 40% of its $1.1 trillion GDP. The U.S., by contrast, counts only 11% of its $13 trillion GDP as exports. So, although Canada's economy and population are smaller, it punches well above its weight in export trade.
This matters when the new trading partner, Colombia, isn't all that big to begin with â and bought $6.7 billion in American goods in 2006, much of it the same stuff Canada and the U.S. sell to each other.
Colombia could easily substitute the goods it buys from the U.S. with those it could get tariff-free from Canada. In fact, it would be smart to do it. The result will be a Canada that snatches away U.S. markets in Latin America's fourth-biggest economy, one that's expected to spend $30 billion on exports this year.
The $516 million U.S. corn export market in Colombia is particularly vulnerable, says Murphy, because U.S. farmers may pay tariffs as high as 35% to sell corn there. Canada's farmers will soon pay nothing. Canada's land advantage, meanwhile, enables it to export plenty of corn.
Pelosi's stalling gives other advantages to Canada, Murphy notes. The fact that the U.S. started on a pact and then stopped, he says, gave Canada more than just a tariff edge.
It also gave it a time-and-information advantage. U.S. trade officials spent years cataloguing tariffs, mastering laws and negotiating clauses that each side could agree on. This gave Canadians (and Europeans) "a beautiful road map" for their own free trade pacts, Murphy explained.
In any other country, such a pointless squandering of market share would be cause for alarm. But somehow, Pelosi & Co. imagine that America doesn't compete in the world, that markets don't matter and that the U.S. will always be number one.
They steep themselves in puritanical righteousness, stalling the Colombia pact over a few crimes being prosecuted by authorities, while American influence and competitiveness wither.
Colombia isn't going to wait for Pelosi to come to her senses. It'll go ahead and do business with Canada.