The 'large trade surplus' in Can-US trade is deceptive - take the oil and gas out of it, and i'd be surprised if it wasn't heavily weighted the other way ... oil and gas provide far fewer jobs than, for random example, lumber and lumber-derived manufactures ... plus, we can sell the oil and gas anywhere, put it on ships and get world price for it on the other side of the planet, no problema .... so while the US gets the primary thing they want out of us, in ready access to cheap energy, we get our job-rich industry of forestry shut down by a tariff wall, as the ethically challenged among the backroom boyz of DC indulge in public whining about the 'large trade surplus'
The US would be buying that oil with or without the Commerzwaffe version of 'free' trade, you can bet on that, they have to buy from somebody, it's like drugs to a junkie
Another way in which 'trade surplus' gets distorted, is it doesn't count investment flow ... nor does it count tourism - far more is spent by canadian snowbirds down there, than US nationals spend here on driving around a bit ... these things show up in 'current account' i believe, and it tells another story entirely |
