Trading Partner Portal: Canada

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce

Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement

Canada, Mexico and Japan have stated their intent to join the TPP negotiations. Please submit your comments in support of their expression of interest to the Office of the US Trade Representative by Friday, January 13, 2012.

 

Request for Comments on Canada's Expression of Interest in the
Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement
CalChamber's Comments in Support of Canada

 

CalChamber's Information page on the TPP
USTR's Information page on the TPP

Trade Overview

Canada has remained California's second largest export market since 2006, with a total value of $16.1 billion in 2010. (11 percent of all California exports.)

Computers and electronic products remained California’s largest exports, accounting for 31 percent of all California exports to Canada. Exports of machinery and chemicals from California to Canada grew to total more than $1.5 billion; with transportation equipment and agricultural products continuing to be strong export sectors as well.

Two-way trade with Canada supports an estimated 832,000 jobs in California, according to a March 2007 study by the Bay Area Economic Forum (BAEF).

According to the BAEF study, Canada:

• is the top foreign buyer of California agricultural products;
• supplies 23 percent of California’s natural gas and a third of its hydropower;
• is one of California’s largest sources of tourists, sending more visitors to California than any country except Mexico;
• attracted more than $760 million in investment from Silicon Valley venture capital firms between 2002 and 2006, with Canadian venture capital firms investing nearly $230 million in Silicon Valley during the same period. 

In 2010, two way trade between Canada and the United States topped $524.7 billion.  Exports to Canada were approximately $248 billion, making it the largest trading partner for the U.S..  In 2009, U.S. companies invested over $259 billion into Canada and Foreign direct investment from Canada into the U.S. was approximately $226 billion. 

Human Resources: A Vital Driver of Canadian International Trade Capacity and Capability
2011 FITT (Forum for International Trade Training) Study 

Energy -  In a Sept 4, 2011 editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle, Canadian Consul General Cassie Doyle said

"Canada has an enviable supply of hydropower, natural gas, oil, uranium and wind power, and our energy exports are largely flowing south. We're the third-largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world, and almost all the electricity that the United States imports comes from Canada. Canada holds the third-largest reserves of oil after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela at 174 billion barrels. Some 80% of the world's known oil reserves are state controlled or managed by national oil companies. However, Canada's government does not run our oil sector. We are not members of OPEC. And of the 20% of the world's oil supply that is openly accessible to market-based development, 60 percent comes from Canada's oil sands.

Canada helps power the California economy. Canada supplied close to 7% of California's crude-oil imports in 2010. California's largest sources of foreign oil, however, are Saudi Arabia, Ecuador and Iraq. In 2010, Canada provided about 19% of California's natural gas, with a value of $2.8 billion, and exported $110.4 million of electricity to California - all of which was produced in British Columbia. "

 

Canada's Consul General Speaks on Importance of New Oil Pipeline ​ (November 10, 2011) Canada’s Consul General in Northern California Cassie J. Doyle discussed the importance of a U.S.-Canadian energy partnership at a World Affairs Council of Northern California event co-sponsored by the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, the McGeorge International Law Society and the California Chamber of Commerce on November 8.

California - Canada Trade Information
Embassy of Canada, April 2011 

U.S. Census Bureau Trade in Goods - Canada
WTO Trade Statistics - Canada

Gov. Schwarzenegger Joins Pacific Coast Collaborative Members to Sign MOU Furthering Agreement
February 12, 2010

NAFTA

The CalChamber actively supported the creation of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) among the United States, Canada and Mexico, comprising 440 million people with combined annual exports of over $700 billion. NAFTA and the Americas Trade

Border Improvement and Immigration Act

In 2011, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the creation of a United States-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) and Beyond the Border (BTB) initiatives.  In recognition of our $1 trillion annual trade and investment relationship, the RCC and BTB will foster formal cooperation between the U.S. and Canada to promote economic growth, job creation, perimeter security and other benefits to our consumers and businesses through increased regulatory transparency and coordination.

2007 Trade Mission

On May 29, 2007, California Chamber of Commerce President Allan Zaremberg, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, members of the press and a diverse business delegation departed today for a three-day trade mission to Canada to promote California products, services and tourist destinations.

"Canada is now the second largest customer for California's exports, with a total dollar value of $14.2 billion in 2006. Two-way trade with Canada supports an estimated 832,000 jobs in California," said Susanne Stirling, CalChamber vice president of international affairs. "With a population and economy larger than Canada, California is unquestionably a major market for Canadian manufactured goods, energy, forest and agri-food products and a wide range of services."

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