U.S. - Canadian Free Trade Critical to Our State's Economy
At the AWB Spokane Board meeting Canadian Ambassador Michael Wilson spoke of the importance of US-Canadian trade, a topic of particular importance to our state's economy. In his column in The Columbian, AWB president Don Brunell expanded on the theme. The numbers are astonishing.
Last year, Canada was Washington’s leading market for non-aerospace
goods, more than twice as large as Japan. More than 153,000 Washington
jobs depend upon U.S.-Canada trade.
In 2006, bilateral exchange between Washington and Canada increased six percent to more than $19.2 billion, with our state shipping $5.4 billion in goods north and the Canadians sending $13.8 billion worth of goods south.
While the numbers are skewed toward Canada, $8.4 billion comes to Washington each year in the form of energy — mostly electricity, natural gas and petroleum products. Ambassador Wilson pointed out that his country, not Saudi Arabia, is the largest supplier of oil to the United States, and unlike the volatile Middle East, Canadians are close, friendly producers.
In 2006, bilateral exchange between Washington and Canada increased six percent to more than $19.2 billion, with our state shipping $5.4 billion in goods north and the Canadians sending $13.8 billion worth of goods south.
While the numbers are skewed toward Canada, $8.4 billion comes to Washington each year in the form of energy — mostly electricity, natural gas and petroleum products. Ambassador Wilson pointed out that his country, not Saudi Arabia, is the largest supplier of oil to the United States, and unlike the volatile Middle East, Canadians are close, friendly producers.
Don makes the right point.
Hopefully, our elected officials will look beyond the raw spontaneous
emotions that drive protectionism and realize we have too much at stake
to trigger another round of trade wars. That won’t help American
workers or our economic recovery.
Exactly.
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