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Canada's Trade Barriers

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Canada is comprised of ten provinces and three territories, a small number that can conceivably focus on redefining internal barriers for the convenience of the entire country. The Globe and Mail article – Canada’s new free-trade agreement? How about a deal between provinces by Perrin Beatty refers to trade that is occurring inside of Canada in relation to the internal barriers of trade. As a country, Canada’s first priority when it comes to trade is not necessarily trading issues between provinces, but instead trading between other countries. Canada should first and foremost be correcting barriers for trade between all of its borders before continuing to create agreements that make trading easier for only some provinces.
When the Agreement …show more content…

This results in Canada having to rely on the United States for trade as well. The relationship between Canada and the United States has been compared to an elephant and a mouse. The elephant being the US and the mouse being Canada, meaning that the majority of what the US does is in the interest of themselves, not Canada. Any large investments that receive location incentives will sell a large portion of their output to the United States because they are seen as the superpower (Thomas, 346). Instead of being a strong entity like the United States, Canada tends to lack the motivation needed to strengthen the economy and be a competing factor on the world stage. Canada is looking for ways to change its policies to keep manufacturing jobs in Canada rather then outsourcing them to place with high populations and low wages, like China and India (Whalley, 316). As we have previously talked about in class, businesses poaching tends to happen in Canada, the leading factor being the barriers that are put in between provinces. Kenneth. P. Thomas gives the example of Crown Life Insurance and the relocation of 1,200 jobs from Toronto to Regina in Saskatchewan. The Saskatchewan government guaranteed a $250 million dollar loan that Crown Life Insurance happily took (Thomas, 348). This shows that there is naturally competitiveness between provinces, accompanied …show more content…

The Agreement on Internal Trade is not as helpful as one would think to reduce interprovincial barriers. Issues arise when there is an inability to assimilate what is needed to reduce barriers. It has been so inconvenient that provinces in Canada have had to team together to make their own agreements. The agreement between Ontario and Quebec is a good example of why an agreement among provinces is not impossible. They have made it possible to focus on agriculture between the two of them, without making large changes to packaging or regulations. If Ontario and Quebec can work around the rules of the Agreement of Internal Trade then how would it be so difficult to involve the entire county? Though it will be difficult to synchronize an entire country it would be worth it for the economical advantages, along with showing other nations that Canada is not the “mouse” that everyone thinks. The other benefit of true interprovincial trade is breaking down the walls formed through the country. Though I am not naïve in thinking that breaking down trade barriers will fix the nation, I do think that it is the first step in making a unified country again. Canada would be wise to right the wrongs that the Agreement of Internal Trade has brought up and follow a strong leadership in correcting the barriers that it has put in

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