Canada - Foreign trade

Canada's exports are highly diversified; the principal export groups are industrial goods, forestry products, mineral resources (with crude petroleum and natural gas increasingly important), and agricultural commodities. Imports are heavily concentrated in the industrial sector, including machinery, transport equipment, basic manufactures, and consumer goods. Trade balances are almost invariably favorable.

In 1989, the United States and Canada signed a free trade agreement; and in 1994 the United States, Canada, and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Currently, trade between the United States and Canada is essentially unhindered. Trade in goods and services between the United States and Canada accounts for approximately US $1.4 billion each day, almost equal to daily US trade with the entire European Union. In fact, the US–Canada trade relationship is the largest such economic association in history. Canada exports about 40 times more to the United States than to any other country, and imports about 14 times as much from the United States as from anywhere else.

Cars, trucks, and automobile parts, are the major exports of Canada (totaling 19.3%). Wood, paper, and paper products follow Canada's vehicle exports closely (totaling 14.6%). The top eight exports as of 2000 were as follows:

	% OF COUNTRY TOTAL
Passenger motor vehicles	15.4
Gas, natural and manufactured	5.4
Telecommunications equipment	5.1
Crude petroleum	4.7
Motor vehicle parts and accessories	3.9
Paper and paperboard	3.8
Wood and cork	3.3
Non-ferrous metals	2.9

In 2000 Canada's imports were distributed among the following categories:

Consumer goods	13.0%
Food	4.6%
Fuels	5.2%
Industrial supplies	21.8%
Machinery	28.4%
Transportation	24.9%
Other	2.1%

Principal trading partners in 2000 (in millions of US dollars) were as follows:

COUNTRY	EXPORTS	IMPORTS	BALANCE
United States	241,591	154,499	87,092
Japan	6,063	11,176	-5,113
United Kingdom	3,855	8,748	-4,893
China (inc. Hong Kong)	3,379	8,570	-5,191
Germany	2,092	5,233	-3,141
Korea	1,503	3,474	-1,971
Mexico	1,373	8,142	-6,769
Belgium	1,347	n.a.	n.a.
France	1,277	2,803	-1,526
Italy	1,172	2,468	-1,296